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BOHN'S STANDARD LIBRARY 



THE GREAT INDIAN EPICS 



GEORGE BELL AND SONS 

LONDON : YORK STEEET, COVENT GARDEN 
NEW YORK : 66, FIFTH AVENUE, AND 
BOMBAY: 53, ESPLANADE ROAD, 
CAMBRIDGE : DEIGHTON, BELL AND CO. 



THE GREAT INDIAN EPICS 



THE STORIES OF THE 



RAMAYANA 



AND THE 



MAHABHARATA 



BY 

JOHN CAMPBELL OMAN 

Principal^ Khalsa College, Amritsar, Author of " Indian 

Life, Religious and Social" " Where Three 
Creeds Meet" etc. 



WITH NOTES, APPENDICES AND ILLUSTRATIONS 




LONDON 

GEORGE BELL AND SONS 

1899 



<#4 



*m 



First published, 1894. 
Reprinted, ivith corrections, 1899. 

£■ 



r fcc 



PREFACE 

The Indian Epics are precious relics of the spring- 
time of Eastern thought, revealing a new and singu- 
larly fascinating world, which differs very remarkably 
from that depicted in the epic poetry of Western 
lands. But although these epics are extremely inter- 
esting, and although they are accessible in English 
translations, more or less complete, they are such 
voluminous works that their mere bulk is enough to 
repel the ordinary English reader, and even the 
student, in these days of feverish occupation. 

I may, no doubt, be justly reminded that every 
Indian History, written within recent years, contains 
abstracts of the two epics ; but these abstracts, I 
would observe, are skeletons rather than miniatures 
of the poems ; they are the dry bones, on which the 
historians try to support a fabric of historical infer- 
ences or conjectures, and they are necessarily de- 
ficient in the mythological, romantic and social 
elements so important to a proper comprehension 
of the "Eamayana" and " Mahabharata." Besides, 
when the structures are so colossal, so composite and 
in many respects so beautiful, there can be no harm 

a2 



VI PREFACE 

in having yet another view of them, taken probably 
from a new standpoint. 

In Europe the Homeric poems are very extensively 
studied in the original Greek; they are productions 
of very moderate size in comparison with the Indian 
Epics ; many and excellent translations of them, in 
both prose and verse, are always issuing from the 
press; and yet condensed epitomes of the " Iliad" 
and " Odyssey " are welcomed by the reading public, 
by whom also prose versions of the poetical narra- 
tives of even English poets — as Chaucer, Spenser, 
Shakespeare and Browning — are favourably received. 

Such being the case, I make no apology for the 
appearance of this little volume, in which I have not 
only tried to reproduce faithfully, in a strictly limited 
space, the main incidents and more striking features 
of those gigantic and wonderful creations of the 
ancient bards of India — the " Eamayana " and " Ma- 
habharata" — but also to direct attention to the abiding 
influence of those works upon the habits and con- 
ceptions of the modern Hindu. 

As they are often very incorrectly cited in support 
of views for which there is no authority whatever in 
their multitudinous verses, it has been my especial 
aim to give as accurate a presentment as possible of 
the Indian Epics, taken as a whole; so that a fair 
and just idea — neither too high nor too low — of their 
varied contents and their intellectual level might be 
formed by the readers of this volume, be they Eu- 
ropeans or Indians. And from what I have recently 
learned, I have good ground for believing that both 



PREFACE Vll 

classes of readers will, after perusal of this little book, 
be in a position to see the erroneous character of 
many ideas in regard to life in ancient India which 
are current in their respective circles. 

Where, for any reason, I have especially desired 
that an event recorded, or an opinion expressed, in 
the epics should be reproduced without the possibility 
of misrepresentation on my part, I have thought it 
best to quote verbatim the translations of them made 
by Hindu scholars ; although, unfortunately, their 
versions are by no means elegant, and, indeed, often 
quite the reverse. But as they, no doubt, reflect the 
structure and texture of the poems in a way that no 
more free or polished English rendering could possibly 
do, I fancy the citations I have made will not be un- 
welcome to most readers. 

My book is divided into two distinct parts dealing 
separately with the "Kamayana" and the "Maha- 
bharata," and at the end of each part I have given, in 
the form of an Appendix, one or two of the more 
striking legendary episodes lavishly scattered through 
these famous epics, and which, though not essential 
for the comprehension of the main story, are too 
beautiful or important to be omitted. Of these episodes 
I should say that they are the best-known portions of 
the "Kamayana" and "Mahabharata," having been 
told and retold in all the leading Indian vernaculars, 
and having, most of them, been brought before the 
European world in both prose and verse. 

A General Introduction to the two poems, and a 
concluding chapter, containing remarks and inferences 



Vlll PREFACE 

based on the materials supplied to the reader in 
Parts I. and II., complete the scheme of this little 
volume, which, I trust, will be found to be something 
more than a mere epitome of the great Sanskrit epics ; 
for, in its preparation, I have had the advantage of 
considerable local knowledge and an intimate acquaint- 
ance with the people of Aryavarta. 

J. C. 0. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

General Introduction I 



PART I.— THE KAMAYANA 

CHAPTER I 
Introductory Remarks 15 

CHAPTER II 
The Story of Rama's Adventures . ... 19 

CHAPTER III 
The Ram Lila or Play of Rama 75 

APPENDIX 

The Story of the Descent of Ganga . . • . .87 
Notes 91 

PART IL— THE MAHABHAEATA 

CHAPTER I 
Introductory Remarks 95 

CHAPTER II 
The Story of the Great War 101 



X CONTENTS 

CHAPTEB III 

PAGE 

The Sacked Land 197 

APPENDIX 

(1) The Bhagavatgita oe Divine Song. . . 207 

(2) The Churning of the Ocean 219 

(3) Nala and Damayanti 225 

Notes 237 

Concluding Eemarks 241 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

The Gambling Match of the Kauravas and Pandavas 
(p. 137). (From an Indian Design) . Frontispiece / 

The Abduction of Sita. (From an illustrated Urdu 

Version) 50 

Hanuman and the Vanars Kejoicing- at the Eestora- 
tion of Sita. (Keduced from Moor's "Hindu Pan- 
theon") face 70 

Men with Knives and Skewers passed through their 

Flesh. (From a Photograph) . . . . face 76 

" The Terrible Demon King of Lanka and his no less 

Formidable Brother." (From a Photograph) face 80 

The Temple and Bathing Ghats on the Sacred Lake 

at Kurukshetra. (From a Photograph) . . face 200 

The Churning of the Ocean. (Beduced from Moor's 

" Hindu Pantheon ") 220 



GREAT INDIAN EPICS 



GENERAL INTRODUCTION 

Foremost amongst the many valuable relics of the 
old-world literature of India stand the two famous 
epics, the "Ramayana" and the " Mahabharata," 
which are loved with an untiring love by the Hindus, 
for they have kept alive, through many a dreary 
century, the memory of the ancient heroes of the 
land, whose names are still borne by the patient 
husbandman and the proud chief. 1 These great poems 
have a special claim to the attention even of foreigners, 
if considered simply as representative illustrations of 
the genius of a most interesting people, their import- 
ance being enhanced by the fact that they are, to this 
day, accepted as entirely and literally true by some 
two hundred millions of the inhabitants of India. 
And they have the further recommendation of being 
rich in varied attractions, even when regarded merely 
as the ideal and unsubstantial creations of Oriental 
imagination. 

Both the "Ramayana" and " Mahabharata " are 
very lengthy works which, taken together, would make 
up not less than about five and twenty printed volumes 

1 " No other work in India at the present day possesses the 
attraction which these epics have for the majority of the people." 
— Life in an Indian Village, Jby T. Rama Krishna, B.A (T. 
Fisher Unwin, 1891). 

B 



55 GREAT INDIAN EPICS 

of ordinary size. They embrace detailed histories of 
wars and adventures and many a story that the 
"Western World would now call a mere fairy tale, to 
be listened to by children with wide-eyed attention. 
But interwoven with the narrative of events and 
legendary romances is a great bulk of philosophical, 
theological, and ethical materials, covering probably 
the whole field of later Indian speculation. Indeed, 
the epics are a storehouse of Brahmanical instruction 
in the arts of politics and government; in cosmogony 
and religion ; in mythology and mysticism ; in ritual- 
ism and the conduct of daily life. They abound in 
dialogues wherein the subtle wisdom of the East is 
well displayed, and brim-over with stories and anec- 
dotes intended to point some moral, to afford con- 
solation in trouble, or to inculcate a useful lesson. 
To epitomize all this satisfactorily would be quite 
impossible ; but what I have given in this little 
volume will, I hope, be sufficient to show the nature 
and structure of the epics, the characteristics that 
distinguish them as essentially Indian productions, 
and the light they throw upon the condition of India 
and the state of Hindu society at the time the several 
portions were written, or, at any rate, collected to- 
gether. The narrative, brief though it be, will reflect 
the more abiding features of Indian national life, re- 
vealing some unfamiliar ideas and strange customs. 
Even within the narrow limits of the reduced picture 
here presented, the reader will get something more 
than a glimpse of those famous Eastern sages, whose 
half-comprehended story has furnished the Theoso- 
phists of our own day with the queer notion of their 
extraordinary Mahatmas ; he will learn somewhat of 
the wisdom and pretensions of those sages, and will 
not fail to note that the belief in divine incarnations 
was firmly rooted in India in very early times. He 
will incidentally acquire a knowledge of all the funda- 



GENERAL INTRODUCTION 3 

mental religious ideas of the Hindus and of the highest 
developments of their philosophy ; he will also become 
familiar with some primitive customs which have left 
unmistakable traces in the institutions of modern 
social life in the East as well as in the West ; and 
will, perhaps, be able to track to their origin some 
strange conceptions which are floating about the in- 
tellectual atmosphere of our time. 

Woven out of the old-time sagas of a remarkable 
people, "the ancient Aryans of India, in many re- 
spects the most wonderful race that ever lived on 
Earth," 1 the Sanskrit epics must have a permanent 
interest for educated people in every land ; while all 
Indian studies must have an attraction for those who' 
desire to watch, with intelligent appreciation, the 
wonderfully interesting transformations in religion 
and manners, which contact with Western civilization 
is producing in the ancient and populous land of the 
Hindus. Not less interesting will such studies be to 
those who are able to note the curious, though as yet 
slight, reaction of Hindu thought upon modern 
European ideas in certain directions ; as, for example, 
in the rise of Theosophy, in the sentimental tendency 
manifested in some quarters towards asceticism, 
Buddhism and Pantheism ; in the approval by a 
small class in Europe of the cremation of the dead, 
and in the growing fascination of such doctrines as 
those of metempsychosis and Karma. 

Although it is difficult for the Englishman of the 
nineteenth century to understand the intellectual 
attitude of modern India in respect to the wild legends 
of its youth, it may help towards a comprehension of 
this point if one reflects that had not Christianity 
superseded the original religions of Northern Europe, 
had the Eddas and Sagas, with their weird tales of 

1 Professor Max Muller's Hibbert Lectures, 1878, p. 50. 



4 GREAT INDIAN EPICS 

wonder and mystery, continued to be authoritative 
scripture in Britain, the religious faith of England 
might now have been somewhat on a par with that 
of India to-day — an extraordinary medley of the 
wildest legends and deepest philosophy. It is a sub- 
ject for wonder how the gods of the ancestors of the 
English people have entirely faded from popular re- 
collection in Britain, how Sagas and Eddas have been 
completely forgotten, leaving only a substratum of 
old superstitions about witchcraft, omens, etc. (once 
religious beliefs), amongst the more backward of the 
populace. How many Englishmen ever think, how 
many of them even know, anything about Thor or 
Odin and the bloody sacrifices (often human sacri- 
fices) ] with which those deities were honoured ? How 
many realize that the worship of these gods and the 
rites referred to had a footing in some parts of Europe 
as recently as eight hundred years ago ? 2 

The almost complete extinction of the ancestral 
beliefs of the European nations is a striking fact to 
which the religious history of India presents no 
parallel. In Europe the great wall of Judaic Chris- 
tianity — too often cemented with blood — has been 
reared, in colossal dimensions, between the past and 
the present, cutting off all communication between 
the indigenous faiths and modern speculative philo- 
sophy of the Western nations; while diverting the 
affectionate interest of the devout from local to foreign 
shrines. 

No barrier of nearly similar proportions has ever 
been raised in India. Islam, it is true, has planted 
its towers in many parts of the country and has, to 
some restricted extent, blocked the old highways of 
thought, causing a certain estrangement between the 
old and new world of ideas ; but the severance between 

1 Prisoners of war of all ranks were sacrificed in numbers. 

2 Du Chaillu's " The Yiking Age," vol i., chapter xx., et seq. 



GENERAL INTRODUCTION 5 

the past and the present has nowhere been as com- 
plete as in Europe, for many an Indian Muslim, though 
professing monotheism, still lingers upon the threshold 
of the old Hindu temples, and still, in times of trouble, 
will stealthily invoke the aid of the national deities, 
who are not yet dead and buried like those of the 
Vikings. Hence it may be asserted of the vast ma- 
jority of the Indian people that their vision extends 
reverentially backward, through an uninterrupted 
vista, to the gods and heroes of their remote an- 
cestors. 

And who were those remote ancestors, those Aryan 
invaders of India in the gray dawn of human history ? 
We have had two answers to that question. A few 
years ago the philologists assured us, very positively, 
that the Aryans were a vigorous primitive race whose 
home was in central Asia and who had sent successive 
waves of emigration and conquest westwards, right 
across the continent of Europe, to be arrested in 
their onward march only by the wide waters of the 
Atlantic. We were also assured, by these learned 
investigators into the mysteries of words and lan- 
guages, that one horde of Asiatic Aryans, instead of 
following the usual westward course adopted by their 
brethren, had turned their thoughts towards the 
sunnier climes of the South, and, scaling the north- 
western barrier of India, had conquered the aborigines 
and settled in the great Indo-Gangetic plain at the 
foot of the Himalayas. These conclusions find a 
place in all our text-books of Indian or European 
history. The schoolboy, who has read his Hunter's 
brief history 1 of India, knows well that "the fore- 
fathers of the Greek and the Roman, of the English 
and the Hindu, dwelt together in Central Asia, spoke 
the same tongue, worshipped the same gods," and 

1 "A Brief History of the Indian People," by Sir William 
Wilson Hunter, K.C.S.I. (Trubner and Co.)- 



b GREAT INDIAN EPICS 

that " the history of ancient Europe is the story of 
the Aryan settlements around the snores of the Medi- 
terranean." However, these conclusions have recently 
undergone revision and radical modification. Within 
the last decade a theory, which originated in England 
with Dr. Latham and which met with contemptuous 
disregard when first propounded, has been revived by 
certain German savants and scientists. 1 Supported 
by the latest results of craniological and anthropo- 
logical investigation, Latham's theory, in a modified 
form, has, under the erudite advocacy of Dr. Schrader 
and Karl Penka, gained all but universal acceptance. 
The theory now in favour, which is founded more on 
inferences from racial than linguistic peculiarities, 
differs from the one referred to above in a very im- 
portant respect. The home of the Aryans, instead of 
being found in Central Asia, is traced to Europe, so 
that the Aryan invaders of India, many centuries 
before Christ, were men of European descent who 
pushed their way eastward and gradually extended 
their dominion first over Iran and subsequently over 
Northern India, having scaled the snowclad Hima- 
layas, literally in search of " fresh fields and pastures 
new." When they reached India, after a long sojourn 
in Eastern countries, they were a mixed European 
and Asiatic race, with probably a large share of 
Turanian blood, 2 speaking a language of Aryan origin. 3 
A strong, warlike, aggressive race, these Aryans won 

1 The world has recently been informed by Dr. Brinton that 
the theory attributed to Dr. Latham was really first advanced 
by Omalius D'Halloy in the " Bulletins de l'Academie Boy ale 
de Belgique" in May, 1848 (" Nature," July 21st, 1892). 

2 As is maintained by Dr. Hermann Braunehoffer, "Journal 
of Eoyal Asiatic Society," 1890, pp. 687-689. 

3 " The Origin of the Aryans," by Isaac Taylor, M.A., LL.D. 
(Walter Scott) ; " Prehistoric Antiquities of the Aryan Peoples," 
by Dr. 0. Schrader, translated by F. B. Jevons, M.A. (Charles 
Griffin and Co.). 



GENERAL INTRODUCTION 7 

for themselves a dominant position in ancient India, 
and have left to this day the unmistakable traces of 
their language in many of the vernaculars of the 
land. 

The decision of the question of the origin of the 
Aiwans and the locality of their primitive home is 
not one of purely antiquarian interest, it is one of 
national importance, as anyone will be prepared to 
admit who knows, and can recall to mind, the effect 
upon the educated Hindus of the announcement that 
their own ancestors had been the irresistible sub- 
jugators of Europe. Whether the Norman conquerors 
of England were of Celtic or, as the late Professor 
Freeman insisted, of Teutonic stock, is not unim- 
portant to the Englishman for the true comprehension 
of his national history and not without some influence 
even in practical politics ; but of far greater moment 
will it be for the Hindu whether he learn to regard 
the Aryans of old as an Asiatic or a European race, 
cradled on the " Eoof of the World " or in the flats of 
the Don. 

Although all Hindus look upon the Aryan heroes 
of the Indian epics as the ancestors of their race, and 
fondly pride themselves in their mighty deeds, the 
claim, in the case of the vast majority, is, of course, 
untenable ; since the great bulk of the Indian popu- 
lation has no real title to Aryan descent. Yet Kama 
and Arjuna are truly Indian creations, enshrined in 
the sacred literature of the land. And the pride and 
faith of the Hindus in these demigods has, perhaps, 
sustained their spirits and elevated their characters, 
through the vicissitudes of many a century since the 
heroic age of India. 

Wnat genuine facts, or real events, may underlie the 
poetical narratives of the authors of the " Kamayana " 
and " Mahabharata " will never be known. The 
details naively introduced are often such as to leave 



8 GREAT INDIAN EPICS 

an irresistible impression that there is a substratum 
of substantial truth serving as a foundation for the 
fantastic and airy structure reared by the poets, and 
we now and then recognize, for instance in their 
despairing fatefulness, a distant echo of ideas which 
have travelled with the Aryan race to the Northern 
Seas. But the too fertile imagination of the Indian 
poets, their supreme contempt for details and utter 
disregard of topographical accuracy, leave little hope 
of our ever getting any satisfactory history out of the 
Sanskrit epics, or even of our establishing an identity 
in regard to localities and details of construction such 
as has been traced, in our own day, by Schliemann, 
between the buried citadel of Hissarlik on the Helles- 
pont and vanished Ilion. For those who do not share 
these opinions there is a wide and deep field for in- 
dustrious research ; but I confess that I am somewhat 
indifferent regarding the extremely doubtful history or 
the very fanciful allegory that may be laboriously ex- 
tracted from the Indian epics by ingenious historians 
and mythologists. Indeed I would protest against 
these grand epics being treated as history, for then 
they must be judged by the canons of historical com- 
position and would be shorn of their highest merits. 
They are poems not history, they are the romantic 
legends and living aspirations of a people, not the 
sober annals of their social and political life. 

Like the other great poems created by the genius of 
the past, the Indian epics have a value quite inde- 
pendent of either the history or the allegory which 
they enshrine. They appeal to our predilection for the 
marvellous and our love of the beautiful, while afford- 
ing us striking pictures of the manners of a bygone 
age, which, for many reasons, we would not willingly 
lose. 

Being religious books, the "Kamayana " and " Ma- 
habharata " are, more or less, known to the Hindus ; 



GENERAL INTRODUCTION 9 

but it is a noteworthy fact that even educated Indians 
are but little acquainted with the details of these poems, 
although both epics have been translated into the 
leading vernaculars of the country and also into 
English. I have known educated young men, with 
more faith in their ancient books than knowledge of 
their contents, warmly deny the possibility of certain 
narratives having a place in these books, because, to 
their somewhat Europeanized ideas, they seemed too 
far-fetched to be probable. The more striking in- 
cidents are, however, familiar to every Hindu, for 
Brahmans wander all over the country, reciting the 
sacred poems to the people. They gather an audience 
of both sexes and all ages and read to them from the 
venerable Sanskrit, rendering the verses of the dead 
language of the Aryan invaders of India into the living 
speech of their hearers. Sometimes the Brahmans 
read and expound vernacular translations of these 
poems of Yalmiki and Vyasa. Often-times these 
recitations are accompanied with much ceremony and 
dignified with a display of religious formalities. 1 Day 
after day the people congregate to listen, with rapt 
attention, to the old national stories, and the moral 
lessons drawn from them, for their instruction, by the 
Pandits. To this day a considerable proportion of the 
people of India order much of their lives upon the 
models supplied by their venerable epics, which have, 

1 The preparations for a recital of this kind in a village in the 
Madras Presidency are thus described. " People came pouring 
in from Kelambakam and from neighbouring villages to the 
house of the village headman. On the pial of his house was 
seated the preacher. Before him was placed the picture of 
Krishna playing the flute and leaning on a cow. The picture 
was profusely decorated with flowers. There were also two 
small vessels. In one there were camphor and some burning 
incense, in the other were flowers and fruits. The people 
swarmed about like bees." — Life in an Indian Village, by T. 
Rama Krishna, B.A., p. 144. 



10 GREAT INDIAN EPICS 

moreover, mainly inspired such plastic and pictorial 
work as the Indian people have produced ; being for 
the Hindu artist what the beautiful creations of Greek 
fancy, or the weird myths of the Middle Ages, have 
been for his European brother. 

Impressed with the importance of some knowledge 
of the Indian epics on the part of everyone directly or 
indirectly interested in the life and opinions of the 
strange and highly intellectual Hindu race, which has 
preserved its marked individuality of character through 
so many centuries of foreign domination, I have 
written, for the benefit of those, whether Europeans 
or Indians, who may be acquainted with the English 
language, the brief epitomes of them contained in the 
following pages ; deriving my materials not from the 
original Sanskrit poems, which are sealed books to 
me, but from the translations, more or less complete 
and literal, of these voluminous works, which have 
been given to the world by both European and Indian 
scholars. On all occasions where religious opinions 
or theological doctrines are concerned I have given the 
preference to the translations of native scholars, as I 
know that Indian Sanskritists have a happy contempt 
for Western interpretations of their sacred books, and 
it seemed very desirable, in such a case, to let the 
Hindus speak for themselves. Besides, I am of opinion 
that the English versions of the "Bamayana" and 
" Mahabharata," now being given to the world by 
Indian scholars, have a unique value, which later 
translations will, in all probability, not possess. The 
present translators are orthodox Hindus possessing a 
competent knowledge of English, and their aim has 
been to produce English versions of their sacred poems, 
as understood and accepted by themselves and by the 
orthodox Indian world to-day, their renderings, no 
doubt, reflecting the traditional interpretation handed 
down from past times. Hereafter we shall have more 



GENERAL INTRODUCTION 11 

learned translations, in which European ideas will do 
dut} T for Indian ones, and the old poems will be inter- 
preted up to our own standard of science and philo- 
sophy. In wild legends we shall discover subtle 
allegories veiling sober history, in license and poetry 
we shall find deep religious mysteries, and in archaic 
notions shall recognize, with admiration, the structure 
of modern philosophy. Something of this has already 
come about, and that the rest is not far off is evident ; 
for we have only recently been told, that "in the 
shlokas of the ' Eamayana ' and ' Mahabharata ' we 
have many important historical truths relating to the 
ancient colonization of the Indian continent by con- 
quering invaders ... all designedly concealed in the 
priestly phraseology of the Brahman, but with such 
exactitude of method, nicety of expression and par- 
ticularity of detail, as to render the whole capable of 
being transformed into a sober, intelligible and prob- 
able history of the political revolutions that took place 
over the extent of India during ages antecedent to the 
records of authentic history, by anyone who will take 
the trouble to read the Sanskrit aright through the veil 
of allegory covering it." l 

While regretting my shortcomings in respect to the 
language of the bards who composed the Sanskrit 
epics, since I am thereby cut off from appreciating the 
beauty of their versification and the felicities of ex- 
pression which no translation can possibly preserve, I 
derive consolation from the reflection, that with suf- 
ficiently accurate translations at hand — similar to our 
English versions of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures 
— a knowledge of Sanskrit is certainly not essential 
for the production of a work with the moderate pre- 
tensions of this little volume. 

1 " The Ethnography of Afghanistan," by Dr. H. W. Bellew, 
C.S.I., in the "Asiatic Q larterly Review," October, 1891. 



PART I 

THE RAMAYANA 



THE EAMAYANA 

OE ADVENTUEES OF EAMA 
CHAPTEE I 

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS 

Once every year, at the great festival known as the 
Dasahra, the story of the famous Hindu epic, the 
" Earuayana," is, throughout Northern India, recalled 
to popular memory, by a great out-door dramatic 
representation of the principal and crowning events in 
the life of the hero, Eama. The " Eamayana " is not 
merely a popular story, it is an inspired poem, every 
detail of which is, in the belief of the great majority of 
the Indian people, strictly true. Although composed 
at least nineteen centuries ago, it still lives enshrined 
in the hearts of the children of Aryavarta and is as 
familiar to them to-day as it has been to their ancestors 
for fifty generations. Pious pilgrims even now retrace, 
step by step, the wanderings, as well as the triumphal 
progress, of Eama, from his birth-place in Oudh to the 
distant island of Ceylon. Millions believe in the 
efficacy of his name alone to insure them safety and 
salvation. For these reasons the poem is of especial 
value and interest to anyone desirous of understanding 
the people of India ; affording, as it does, an insight 
into the thoughts and feelings of the bard or bards 
who composed it and of a race of men who, through 



16 THE RAMATANA 

two thousand eventful years, have not grown weary 
of it. 

In the following chapters I shall first give a brief 
summary of the leading events narrated in the 
" Eamayana " and then proceed to link, as it were, 
the past with the present, by describing the annual 
play as I have often witnessed it in Northern India. 

The " Eamayana," written in the Sanskrit language, 
embraces an account of the birth and adventures of 
Eama. The whole poem, which is divided into seven 
books or sections, contains about fifty thousand lines 
and occupies five goodly volumes in Mr. Ealph Griffith's 
metrical translation, 1 which is, to a certain extent, an 
abridged version. To Valmiki is attributed the author- 
ship of this famous epic, and a pretty story is told of 
the manner in which he came to write it. A renowned 
ascetic, a sort of celestial being, named Narada, had 
related to Yalmiki the main incidents of the adven- 
turous life of Eama, and had deeply interested that 
sage in the history of the hero and his companions. 
Pondering the events described by Narada, Yalmiki 
went to the river to bathe. Close at hand two beautiful 
herons, in happy unconsciousness of danger, were 
disporting themselves on the wooded bank of the 
stream, when suddenly one of the innocent pair was 
laid prostrate by the arrow of an unseen fowler. The 
other bird, afflicted with grief, fluttered timidly about 
her dead mate, uttering sore cries of distress. Touched 
to the heart by her plaintive sorrow, Yalmiki gave 
expression to his feelings of irritation and sympathy 
in words which, to his own surprise, had assumed a 
rhythmic measure and were capable of being chanted 
with an instrumental accompaniment. Presently, 
Brahma himself, the Creator of all, visited the sage in 

" The Ramayan of Valmikf," translated into "English verse by 
Ealph T. H. Griffith, M.A., Principal of the Benares College 
(London, Tiiibner and Co.). 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS 17 

his hermitage, but Valmiki's mind was so much occu- 
pied with the little tragedy at the river-side, that he 
unconsciously gave utterance to the verses he had 
extemporized on the occasion. Brahma, smiling, 
informed the hermit that the verses had come to his 
lips in order that he might compose the delightful and 
instructive story of Eama in that particular measure 
or shloka. Assuring Valmiki that all the details of 
the stirring tale would be revealed to him, the Supreme 
Being directed the sage to compose the great epic, 
which should endure as long as the mountains and 
seas exist upon this earth. How Valmiki acquired a 
knowledge of all the details of the story is worth 
remembering, as being peculiarly Indian in its con- 
ception. 

"Sitting himself facing the east on a cushion of 
Kusa grass, and sipping water according to the ordin- 
ance, he addressed himself to the contemplation of 
the subject through Yoga. 1 And, by virtue of his 
Yoga powers, he clearly observed before him Kama 
and Lakshmana, and Sita, and Dasahratha, together 
with his wives, in his kingdom, laughing and talking 
and acting and bearing themselves as in real life." 2 

1 Of Yoga and Yogaism I have given a brief account in a 
previous work, "Indian Life, Eeligious and Social," pp. 11-47 
(London, Fisher Unwin). 

2 " The Kamayana," translated into English prose from the 
original Sanskrit of Valmiki by Manmatha Nath Dutt, M.A. 
(Deva Press, Calcutta). If not otherwise stated, all prose quo- 
tations from the "Kamayana" included in the following pages 
are derived from this work. 



CHAPTEK II 

THE STORY 

The story of the " Kamayana," in brief outline, is as 
follows : 

In the ancient land of Kosala, watered by the Eiver 
Surayu, stood the famous Ayodhya, 1 a fortified and 
impregnable city of matchless beauty, and resplendent 
with burnished gold, where everyone was virtuous, 
beautiful, rich and happy. Wide streets traversed this 
city in every direction, lined with elegant shops and 
stately palaces glittering all over with gems. There 
was no lack of food in Ayodhya, for " it abounded 
in paddy and rice, and its water was as sweet as the 
juice of the sugar-cane." Gardens, mango-groves and 
" theatres for females " were to be found everywhere. 
Dulcet music from Venas and Panavas resounding on 
all sides, bore evidence to the taste of the people. 
Learned and virtuous Brahmans, skilled in sacrificial 
rites, formed a considerable proportion of the popula- 
tion ; which also included a crowd of eulogists and 
" troops of courtesans." The pride of ancient families 
supported a large number of genealogists. Hosts of 
skilled artisans of every kind contributed to the 
conveniences and elegancies of life, while an army 

1 " The ruins of the ancient capital of Eama and the children 
of the Sun may still be traced in the present Ajudhya near 
Fyzabad. Ajudhya is the Jerusalem or Slecca of the Hindus." 
— Note, vol. i., p. 35, of Mr. Griffith's translation of the " Eama- 
yana" (Triibner and Co., London). 



20 THE RAMAYANA 

of doughty warriors protected this magnificent and 
opulent city from its envious foes. Over this wonderful 
and prosperous capital of a flourishing kingdom, ruled 
King Dasahratha, a man some sixty thousand years of 
age, gifted with every virtue and blessed beyond most 
mortals. But, as if to prove that human happiness 
can never exist unalloyed with sorrow, even he had 
one serious cause for grief; he was childless, although 
he had three wives and seven hundred and fifty con- 
cubines. 1 Acting upon the advice of the priests, the 
Maharajah determined to offer, with all the complicated 
but necessary rites, the sacrifice of a horse, as a means 
of prevailing upon the gods to bless his house with 
offspring. The accomplishment of such a sacrifice 
was no easy matter, or to be lightly undertaken, even 
by a mighty monarch like Dasahratha, since it was an 
essential condition of success that the sacrifice should 
be conducted without error or omission in the minutest 
details of the ritual of an intricate ceremony, extend- 
ing over three days. Not only would any flaw in the 
proceedings render the sacrifice nugatory, but it was 
to be feared that learned demons (Brahma-Eakshasas), 
ever maliciously on the look-out for shortcomings in 
the sacrifices attempted by men, might cause the 
destruction of the unfortunate performer of an im- 
perfect sacrifice of such momentous importance. 
However, the sacrifice was actually performed on a 
magnificent scale and most satisfactorily, with the 
assistance of an army of artisans, astrologers, dancers, 
conductors of theatres, and persons learned in the 
ceremonial law. Birds, beasts, reptiles, and aquatic 
animals were sacrificed by the priests on this auspicious 

1 What a terrible thing it is for a Hindu to be childless can be 
understood, and then only partially, by bearing in mind that, 
without a son to perform the complex funeral rights and cere- 
monies for a deceased father, the dead man's soul must undergo 
ages of trouble in the next world. 



THE STORY 21 

occasion, but the sacred horse itself was despatched, 
with three strokes, by the hand of Kaucalya, Dasah- 
ratha's queen. When the ceremonies had been con- 
ducted to a successful close, Dasahratha showed his 
piety and generosity by making a free gift of the 
whole earth to the officiating priests ; but they were 
content to restore the magnificent present, modestly 
accepting in its stead fabulous quantities of gold and 
silver and innumerable cows. 

The gods, Gandharvas and Siddhas, propitiated by 
the offerings profusely made to them, assembled, each 
one for his share, 1 and Dasahratha was promised four 
sons. 2 While these events were transpiring, a ten- 
headed Eakshasa named Eavana was making himself 
the terror of gods and men, under the protection of 
a boon bestowed upon him by the Creator (Brahma), 
that neither god nor demon should be able to deprive 
him of his life. This boon had been obtained by 
the Eakshasa as the reward of long and painful 
austerities. 3 

1 According to Hindu belief the gods and the spirits of 
departed ancestors are actually nourished and sustained by the 
aroma of the burnt offerings made by pious persons. Hence the 
vital importance of these sacrifices, upon which the very safety 
and continuance of the Universe depend. 

2 This incident introduces us to an important Hindu idea, 
that the exact performance of certain prescribed rites and sacri- 
fices leads to the attainment of definite objects, as, for example, 
purification from a particular sin, the destruction of a hated 
enemy or the discovery of a friend. The gods themselves per- 
formed sacrifices, and Indra is commonly addressed as " the per- 
former of a hundred sacrifices." 

3 The Indian ideas respecting austerities are very peculiar, and 
as they pervade their religion and literature are specially note- 
worthy. "According to the Hindu theory the performance of 
penances was like making deposits in the bank of heaven. 
By degrees an enormous credit was accumulated, which enabled 
the depositor to draw to the amount of his savings, without 
fear of his draughts being refused payment. The power gained 
in this manner by weak mortals was so enormous, that gods as 



22 THE RAM AY AN A 

The hierarchy of minor gods, in their own interest 
and for the sake of the saints who were constantly 
being disturbed in their devotions by this Havana and 
his fellows, appealed to the Supreme Deity to find 
some remedy for the evil. Brahma, after reflecting on 
the matter, replied — 

" One only way I find 

To stay this fiend of evil mind. 

He prayed me once his life to guard 

From demon, God and heavenly bard, 

And spirits of the earth and air, 

And I consenting heard his prayer. 

But the proud giant in his scorn, 

Becked not of man of woman born, 

None else may take his life away 

But only man the fiend may slay." 

— Gkiffith. 

On receiving this reply the gods petitioned Vishnu 
to divide himself into four parts and to appear on 
earth, incarnate as the promised sons of Dasahratha, 
and thus, in human form, to rid the world of Bavana. 
Vishnu consented. He proceeded to the earth and 
appeared amidst the sacrificial flames of Dasahratha' s 
offering, in an assumed form " of matchless splendour, 
strength and size " — black, with a red face, and shaggy 
hair — apparelled in crimson robes, and adorned with 
celestial ornaments, holding in his hands a vase of 
gold, containing heavenly nectar, which he handed to 
the king, with instructions to make his three queens 

well as men were equally at the mercy of these all but omni- 
potent ascetics ; and it is remarkable, that even the gods are 
described as engaging in penance and austerities, in order, it may 
be presumed, not to be outdone by human beings. Siva was so 
engaged when the god of love shot an arrow at him." — Note to 
page 4 of Professor Sir Monier Williams's " Indian Epic Poetry." 
In the course of the following pages of this book we shall meet 
with ascetics very often and become familiar with their doings. 



THE STORY 23 

partake of the sacred draught, in order that they might 
be blessed with sons. 

Dasahratha distributed the nectar amongst his wives, 
though not in equal proportions. In due time the 
promised sons were born, viz., Eama, Lakshmana, 
Bharata and Satrughna. Kama possessed the larger 
share of the divine nature and decidedly excelled his 
brothers in prowess. To him, especially, was allotted 
the task of destroying Havana. And countless hosts 
of monkeys and bears were begotten by the gods, at 
Brahma's l suggestion, to aid him in his work. 

Whilst yet a mere stripling, Kama was appealed to 
by the sage Yishwamitra to destroy certain demons 
who interrupted the religious rites of the hermits. 

Theboyw T as only sixteen years of age, and Dasahratha, 
naturally solicitous for his safety, declined to let him 
go to fight the dreadful brood of demons, who had an 
evil reputation for cruelty and ferocity; but the 
mighty ascetic w 7 axed so wrath at this refusal of his 
request, that " the entire earth began to tremble and 
the gods even were inspired with awe." Vasishta, the 
king's spiritual adviser, who had unbounded confidence 
in Yishwamitra' s power to protect the prince from all 
harm, strongly advised compliance with the ascetic's 
request, and Dasahratha was prevailed upon to allow 
Kama and Lakshmana to leave Ayodhya with Yishwa- 
mitra. 

The incidents of the journey reveal a very primitive 
state of society. The princes and their guide were all 
of them on foot, apparently quite unattended by 
servants and unprovided with even the most ordinary 
necessaries of life. When they reached the Kiver 
Surayu, 2 Yishwamitra communicated certain mantras 

1 The belief in divine incarnations, for the benefit or salvation 
of the world, is a common and familiar one in the Hindu 
religion. 

2 The modern Gogra. 



24 THE RAMAYANA 

or spells to Bama, by the knowledge of which he 
would be protected from fatigue and fever 1 and from 
the possibility of being surprised by the Bakshasas 
against whom he was going to wage war. 

The land through which our travellers journeyed 
was sparsely inhabited. A goodly portion of it seems 
to have been covered with woods, more or less pleasant, 
abounding in the hermitages of ascetics, some of 
whom had been carrying on their austerities for 
thousands of years. Beside these pleasant woods there 
were vast, trackless forests, infested by ferocious beasts 
and grim Eakshasas, and it was not long before the 
might of the semi-divine stripling, Bama, was tried 
against one of these terrible creatures, Tarika by 
name, an ogress of dreadful power, whom Bama 
undertook to destroy "in the interests of Brahmans, 
kine and celestials." "When the ascetic and the two 
princes arrived in the dark forest where the dreaded 
Tarika ruled supreme, Bama twanged his bowstring 
loudly, as a haughty challenge to this redoubtable 
giantess. Incensed at the audacious sound of the 
bowstring, Tarika uttered terrible roars and rushed 
out to attack the presumptuous prince. The ascetic 
raised a defiant roar in response. That was his entire 
contribution to the combat in which Bama and his 
adversary were immediately involved, Lakshmana 
taking part in it also. This, the first conflict in which 
Bama was engaged, may be taken as a type of all his 
subsequent battles. Baising clouds of dust, Tarika, 
" by help of illusion," poured a shower of huge stones 
upon the brothers, but these ponderous missiles were 
met and arrested in mid-air by a volley of arrows. 
The battle raged fiercely, but the brothers succeeded 
with their shafts in depriving Tarika of her hands, her 

1 Protection against fever would be specially desirable in a 
country covered with forest and jungle, as the India of the 
" Ramayana " evidently was. 



THE STORY 25 

nose and her ears. Thus disabled and disfigured, 
Tarika changed her shape T and even concealed herself 
from view, while still continuing the fight with un- 
abated fury ; but Earna, guided by sound alone, 
assailed his invisible foe with such effect that he 
eventually laid her dead at his feet, to the joy of 
Yishwarnitra and the relief of the denizens of the great 
forest over which she had terrorized. 

After this successful combat, the ascetic, Yishwa- 
rnitra, conferred on Eama a gift of strange weapons, 
which even the celestials were incapable of wielding. 
How very different the magic weapons received by 
Eama were from those familiar to the sons of men, 
will be apparent from the poet's statement that the 
weapons themselves made their appearance spon- 
taneously before Eama, "and with clasped hands, 
they, well pleased, addressed Eama thus : These, 
highly generous one, are thy servants, Eaghava. 
"Whatever thou wishest, good betide thee, shall by all 
means be accomplished by us." 

Such wonderful and efficient weapons, endowed with 
a consciousness and individuality of their own, needed, 
however, to be kept under strict control, lest in their 
over-zeal or excitement they might effect undesigned 
and irreparable mischief. The sage accordingly com- 
municated to Eama the various mantras or spells by 
which they might, on critical occasions, be restrained 
and regulated in their operations. 

In their woodland wanderings amongst the hermit- 
ages the brothers and their guide came across many 
sages whose laborious austerities were constantly 
being hindered by wicked, flesh-eating Eakshasas. 
Indeed the world, outside the cities and villages, — 

1 The power of assuming a multiplicity of forms at will, and 
of passing from a huge to a minute size, or the reverse, to suit 
the exigencies of the moment is enjoyed by a great number of 
personages in the Hindu epics. 



26 THE RAMAYANA 

which it would seem were very few and far between, — 
as pictured by Valruiki, is a very strange one, mostly 
peopled by two sets of beings, hermits striving after 
supernatural power through the practice of austerities, 
and demons bent on frustrating their endeavours by 
unseasonable interruptions of their rites, or impious 
pollution of their sacrifices. Sometimes, as in the 
case of Eavana, the demons themselves would practise 
austerities for the attainment of power. 

Very prominent figures in the poem are the great 
ascetics, like Vishwamitra himself, who, a Kshatriya by 
caste and a king by lineage, had obtained, through 
dire austerities prolonged over thousands of years, the 
exalted rank and power of Brahmanhood. A single 
example of his self-inflicted hardships and the con- 
sequences resulting therefrom may not be out of place. 
He once restrained his breath for a thousand years, 
when vapours began to issue from his head, " and at 
this the three worlds became afflicted with fear." 
Like most of his order, he was a very proud and irate 
personage, ready, upon very slight provocation, to 
utter a terrible and not-to-be-escaped-from curse. 1 
Once, in a fit of rage against the celestials, Vishwa- 
mitra created entire systems of stars and even 
threatened, in his fury, to create another India by 
" the process of his self-earned asceticism." 

The life led by the princely brothers in their 
pedestrian wanderings with this mighty sage was 
simplicity itself. They performed their religious rites 
regularly, adoring the rising sun, the blazing fire or 
the flowing river, as the case might be. Their sojourn 
in the forests was enlivened by pleasant communion 

1 We shall in the course of the development of this story have 
frequent opportunities of learning the awful and irrevocable 
character of curses uttered by Brahnians and others, rejoicing in 
the possession of stores of power acquired by the practice of 

austerities. 



THE STORY 27 

Avitli the hermits to whose kind hospitality they were 
usually indebted for a night's lodging, if such it can 
be called, and a simple fare of milk and fruits. Vishwa- 
rnitra added interest to their journey ings by satisfying 
the curiosity of the brothers in regard to the history 
of the several places they visited. Here, as he in- 
formed them, the god Eudra had performed his 
austerities — for even the gods were not above the 
necessity and ambition of ascetic practices — and 
blasted the impious Kama into nothingness with a 
breath. There, the great god Vishnu of mighty 
asceticism, worshipped of all the deities, dwelt during 
hundreds of Yugas, for the purpose of carrying on his 
austerities and practising yoga. 1 At one time Vishwa- 
mitra would relate the history of the origin of Ganga 
and of her descent upon the earth, as the mighty and 
purifying Ganges, chief of rivers. At another time he 
would himself listen complacently, along with his 
princely companions, to the history of his own wonder- 
ful asceticism and marvellous performances, as the 
wise Satananda related it for the special edification 
of Eama. 

So passed away the time in the forests, not alto- 
gether peacefully, however, for the object of the journey 
would not have been fulfilled without sundry fierce 
and entirely successful encounters with the Eakshasas, 
those fiendish interrupters of sacrifice and persistent 
enemies of the anchorites. Eventually the wanderers 
came to the kingdom of Mithila, whose king, Janaka, 2 
had a lovely daughter to bestow upon the worthy and 
fortunate man who should bend a certain formidable 

x Vide M. N. Dutt's "Bamayana," p. 75. 

2 " The remains of the capital founded by Janaka and thence 
termed Janakapur are still to be seen, according to Buchanan, 
on the northern frontier at the Janeckpoor of the maps." — Note 
to Professor H. H. Wilson's translation of the "Uttara Bama 
Charitra." 



28 THE RAMAYANA 

bow which had belonged to Siva and which he had 
once threatened to use in the destruction of the gods. 

Janaka's daughter, the famous Sita, whose matri- 
monial future was thus connected with Siva's bow, 
was of superhuman origin, having sprung from the 
earth in a mysterious manner ; for, while Janaka was 
ploughing the ground in the course of a child-conferring 
sacrifice, the lovely maiden had, by the favour of the 
gods, come to him out of the furrow. 

Allured by the fame of Sita's beauty, suitor after 
suitor had come to Mithila and tried that tough bow 
of Siva's, but without success ; and Kama's curiosity 
was awakened about both the mighty weapon and the 
maiden fair. 

Having been introduced by Vishwamitra to the King 
of Mithila, Earua was allowed to essay his strength 
against the huge bow, and huge it was indeed, for it 
had to be carried on an eight-wheeled cart which 
" was with difficulty drawn along by five thousand 
stalwart persons of well-developed frames." To Eama, 
however, the bending of this gigantic bow was an easy 
matter, and he not only bent but broke it too, at 
which event all present, overwhelmed by the noise, 
rolled head over heels, with the exception of Vishwa- 
mitra, the "king and the two Eaghavas." The 
lovely and much-coveted prize was Eama's of course. 
Arrangements for the wedding were carried out in 
grand style. Dasahratha and his two other sons were 
invited to Mithila and brides were found, in the family 
of Janaka, for all the four brothers. Upon a dais 
covered with a canopy, and decked with flowers, the 
happy brides and bridegrooms were placed, attended 
by the king and the priests of the two families. Water- 
pots, golden ladles, censers, and conches, together 
with platters containing rice, butter, curds and other 
things for the Horn sacrifice, were also arranged for 
use on the platform. The sacrificial fire was lighted, 



THE STORY 29 

the appropriate mantras repeated, and the four bride- 
grooms led their brides first round the fire, and then 
round the king and the priests. At this stage of the 
proceedings showers of celestial flowers rained down 
upon the happy couples, now united in the bonds of 
matrimony. 1 After these marriages the return to 
Ayodhya was accomplished with rejoicings and in 
great state ; but Vishwamitra took his solitary way to 
the Northern Mountains. 

As the years went by and Rama was grown to man's 
estate he was endowed with every princely virtue ; the 
people idolized him, and his father, desirous of retiring 
from the cares of government, determined to place him 
upon the throne. But, although apparently simple of 
execution, this arrangement was beset with difficulties. 
Eama was the son of the Rajah's eldest and principal 
wife ; but Bharata was the son of his favourite wife, 
the slender-waisted Kaikeyi. The suffrages of the 
people and Dasahratha's own wishes were entirely in 
favour of Rama, but, apparently unwilling to face the 
grief or opposition of his darling Kaikeyi, the king 
took advantage of Bharata's absence on a visit to a 
distant court to carry out the rather sudden prepara- 
tions for Rama's installation as Yuva-Rajah, hoping, it 
would seem, to keep Kaikeyi in complete ignorance of 
what was being done. The whole city, however, was 
in a state of bustle and excitement at the approaching 
event. The streets were being washed and watered, 
flag-staffs were being erected on every side, gay bunt- 
ing was floating about and garlands of flowers adorned 
the houses. Musicians played in the highways and in 
the temples, and, notwithstanding the seclusion of the 
women's apartments, it was impossible to conceal from 

1 I have had the good fortune to be present at a marriage 
ceremony, carried out professedly in accordance with Vedic 
rites, which closely resembled the wedding of Eama and his 
brothers, as described by Yalmiki. 



30 THE RAMAYANA 

the inmates of the zenana what was going on in the 
great world outside. A deformed and cunning slave- 
girl, named Manthara, found out and revealed the 
whole plot to Bharata's mother. At first Kaikeyi 
received the intelligence with pleasure, for Eama was 
dear to everybody ; but the slave-girl so worked upon 
her feelings of envy and jealousy, by artfully picturing 
to her the very inferior position she would hold in the 
world's estimation, the painful slights she would have 
to endure and the humiliation she would have to suffer, 
once Kaucalya's son was raised to the throne, that in 
a passion of rage and grief, she threw away her orna- 
ments and, with dishevelled hair, flew to the " chamber 
of sorroio " and flung herself down upon the floor, 
weeping bitterly. Here the old king found her " like 
a sky enveloped in darkness with the stars, hid " and 
had to endure the angry reproaches of his disconsolate 
favourite. Acting upon a suggestion of the deformed 
slave-girl, the queen reminded her husband of a promise 
made by him long previously, that he would grant her 
any two requests she might make. She now demanded 
the fulfilment of the royal promise, her two requests 
being that Kama should be sent away into banishment 
in the forests for a period of fourteen years and that 
her own son Bharata should be elevated to the dignity 
of Yuva-Bajah. On these terms, and on these only, 
would the offended and ambitious Kaikeyi be recon- 
ciled to her uxorious lord. If these conditions were 
refused she was resolved to rid the king of her hated 
presence. Dasahratha, poor old man, was overwhelmed 
by this unexpected crisis. He fell at his wife's feet, 
he explained that preparations for Eama's installation 
had already commenced, he besought her not to expose 
him to ridicule and contempt, he coaxed and flattered 
her, alluding to her lovely eyes and shapely hips, he 
extolled Kama's affectionate devotion to herself. He 
next heaped bitter reproaches upon Kaikeyi' s un- 



THE STORY 31 

reasonable pride and finally swooned away in despair. 
But she was firm in her purpose and would not be 
shaken by anything, kind or unkind, that this " lord 
of earth " could say to her. The royal word she knew 
was sacred, and had to be kept at any cost. 

As soon as it came to be known what a strange and 
unforeseen turn events had taken, the female apart- 
ments were the scene of loud lamentations, and the 
entire city was plunged in mourning. Earn a, of ex- 
pansive and copper} 7 eyes, 1 long-armed, dark blue like 
a lotus, a mighty bowman of matchless strength, with 
the gait of a mad elephant, brave, truthful, humble- 
minded, respectful and generous to Brahmans, and 
having his passions under complete control, was the 
idol of the zenana, the court, and the populace. The 
thought of his unmerited banishment to the forests 
was intolerable to everyone. But he himself, with ex- 
emplary filial devotion, prepared to go into exile at once, 
without a murmur. The poet devotes considerable 
space to a minute description of the sorrow experienced 
by the prominent characters in the story on account of 
Bama's banishment. Each one indulges in a lengthy 
lamentation, picturing the privations and sufferings of 
the ill-fated trio, and nearly everyone protests that it 
will be impossible to live without Bama. With affec- 
tionate regard for Sita's comfort, and loving appre- 
hension for her safety, Bama resolved to leave her 
behind with his mother ; but no argument, no induce- 
ment, could, prevail upon the devoted wife to be parted 
from her beloved husband. What were the terrors of 
the forest to her, what the discomfort of the wilder- 
ness, when shared with Bama ? Backed with sorrow 
at the proposed separation, Sita burst into a flood of 

1 In this description of Rama and in other places I have 
borrowed the epithets I find in Dutt's translation of the " Eama- 
yana," in order to preserve something of the peculiar character 
of the original. 



32 THE RAMAYANA 

tears and became almost insensible with grief. At the 
sight of her tribulation Kama, overcome with emotion, 
threw his arms about his dear wife and agreed to take 
her with him, come what may. 

Lakshmana, with devoted loyalty, would also ac- 
company his brother into exile. 

Kaikeyi, apprehensive of delays, hurried on their 
preparations, and herself, unblushingly, provided them 
with the bark dresses worn by ascetics. The two 
brothers donned their new vestments in the king's 
presence. 

" But Sita, in her silks arrayed, 

Threw glances, trembling and afraid, 

On the bark coat she had to wear 

Like a shy doe that eyes the snare. 

Ashamed and weeping for distress 

From the queen's hand she took the dress. 

The fair one, by her husband's side, 

Who matched heaven's minstrel monarch, cried : 

* How bind they on their woodland dress, 

Those hermits of the wilderness ? ' 

There stood the pride of Janak's race 

Perplexed, with sad appealing face, 

One coat the lady's fingers grasped, 

One round her neck she feebly clasped, 

But failed again, again, confused 

By the wild garb she ne'er had used. 

Then quickly hastening Rama, pride 

Of all who cherish virtue, tied 

The rough bark mantle on her, o'er 

The silken raiment that she wore. 

Then the sad women when they saw 

Rama the choice bark round her draw, 

Rained water from each tender eye 

And cried aloud with bitter cry." l 

— Gkiffith. 

1 Here is a pretty picture for an artist, Hindu or other. 



THE STORY 33 

After giving away vast treasures to the Brahman s 
the ill-fated trio took a pathetic leave of the now 
miserable old king, of Kaucalya who mourned like a 
cow deprived of her calf, of Sumitra the mother of 
Lakshmana, and of their " other three hundred and 
fifty mothers." With an exalted sense of filial duty 
the exiles also bid a respectful and affectionate fare- 
well to Kaikeyi, the cruel author of their unmerited 
banishment, Rama remarking that it was not her own 
heart, but " Destiny alone that had made her press 
for the prevention of his installation." 

When Eama and his companions appeared in the 
streets of the capital, in the dress of ascetics, the 
populace loudly deplored their fate, extolling the 
virtues of Rama while giving vent to their feelings of 
disapproval at the king's weak compliance with his 
favourite's whim. Sita came in for her share of 
popular pity and admiration, since she "whom for- 
merly the very rangers of the sky could not see, was 
to-day beheld by every passer-by." 

A royal chariot conveyed away to the inhospitable 
wilderness the two brothers and faithful Sita, torn 
from stately Ayodhya, their luxurious palaces and the 
arms of their fond parents. All they carried with 
them, in the chariot, was their armour and weapons, 
" a basket bound in hide and a hoe." Crowds of 
people, abandoning their homes, followed in the track 
of the chariot, resolved to share the fate of the exiles. 
And such was the grief of the people that the dust 
raised by the wheels of the car occupied by Rama and 
his companions was laid by the tears of the citizens. 
They drove at once to the jungles and rested therefor 
the night. During the hours of slumber the exiles 
considerately gave their followers the slip and hurried 
off, in the chariot, towards the great forest of Dandhaka. 
When they arrived at the banks of the sacred and de- 
lightful Ganges the charioteer was dismissed with 

D 



34 THE RAMAYANA 

tender messages to the old king from his exiled 
children. After the departure of the charioteer Rama 
and his companions began their forest wanderings on 
foot. Their hermit life was now to commence in 
earnest. Before entering the dark forests that lay 
before them, the brothers resolved to wear " that 
ornament of ascetics, a head of matted hair," and, 
accordingly, produced the desired coiffure with the aid 
of the glutinous sap of the banyan tree. Thus prepared 
and clothed in bark like the saints, the brothers, with 
faithful Sita, entered a boat which chanced to be at 
the river side and began the passage of the Ganges. 
As they crossed the river the pious Sita, with joined 
hands, addressed the goddess of the sacred stream, 
praying for a happy return to A} T odhya, when their 
days of exile should be over. Having arrived on the 
other bank, the exiles entered the forest in Indian file, 
Lakshmana leading and Eama bringing up the rear. 
Passing by Sringavara on the Ganges, they proceeded 
to Prayaga at the junction of the Ganges and the 
Jumna. Here they were hospitably entertained by 
the sage Bharadvaja, who recommended them to seek 
an asylum on the pleasant slopes of wooded Chitra- 
kuta. On the way thither Sita, ever mindful of her 
religious duties, adored the Kalindi river — which they 
crossed on a raft constructed by themselves — and paid 
her respects to a gigantic banyan tree, near which 
many ascetics had taken up their abode. On the 
romantic and picturesque side of Chitrakuta the exiles 
built themselves a cottage, thatched with leaves, 
"walled with wood, and furnished with doors." 
Game, fruits, and roots abounded in the neighbour- 
hood, so that they need have no anxiety about their 
supplies. So much did they appreciate the quiet 
beauties of their sylvan retreat, the cool shade, the 
perfumed flowers, the sparkling rivulets and the noble 
river, that they became almost reconciled to their 



THE STORY 35 

separation from their friends and the lordly palaces of 
Ayodhya, in which city important things were hap- 
pening. 

The exile of Kama had been too much for the doting 
old Maharajah. 1 Weighed down by sorrow, he soon 
succumbed to his troubles, and Bharata, who was still 
absent at Giri-braja, was hastily summoned to take 
up the regal office. He, accompanied by his brother 
Satrughna, hurried to the capital, and finding, on his 
arrival, how matters really stood, heaped reproaches 
upon his wicked, ambitious mother, indignantly re- 
fusing to benefit by her artful machinations. In a 
transport of grief Bharata " fell to the earth sighing 
like an enraged snake," while Satrughna, on his part, 
seized the deformed slave-girl Manthara, and literally 
shook the senses out of her. In Kama's absence, 
Bharata performed his father's obsequies with great 
pomp. The dead body of the late king, which had 
been preserved in oil, was carried in procession to the 
river side and there burnt, together with heaps of 
boiled rice and sacrificed animals. A few days later 
the sraddha ceremonies for the welfare of the spirit of 
the departed king were performed, and, as usual, costly 
presents, — money, lands, houses, goats and kine, also 
servant-men and servant-maids were bestowed upon 
the fortunate Brahmans. 

When this pious duty, which occupied thirteen days, 
had been fulfilled, affairs of State demanded attention. 
Bharata, although pressed to do so, resolutely declined 
to accept the sceptre, and resolved to set out, with a 
vast following, on a visit to Kama in his retreat, hoping 
to persuade him to abandon his hermit-life and under - 

1 Dasahratba himself attributed these misfortunes to his having 
when a youth unwittingly killed, with a chance arrow, a young 
hermit in the forest. The boy's father, himself a hermit, cursed 
Dasahratba, and the effects of the malediction were apparent in 
the troubles attending the king's declining years. 



36 THE RAMAYANA 

take the government of the realm. Great prepara- 
tions had to be made for this visit to Rama, which 
was a sort of wholesale exodus of the people of 
Ayodhya of all ranks and occupations. A grand army- 
was to accompany Bharata, and the court, with all the 
ladies of the royal family, including the no-doubt- 
reluctant Kaikeyi, were to swell the procession. A 
road had to be made for the projected march of this 
host ; streams had to be bridged, ferries provided at 
the larger rivers, and able guides secured. When the 
road was ready and the preparations for the journey 
completed, chariots and horsemen in thousands 
crowded the way, mingled with a vast multitude of 
citizens riding in carts. Artificers of every kind 
attended the royal camp. Armourers, weavers, tailors, 
potters, glass-makers, goldsmiths and gem-cutters, 
were there ; so also were physicians, actors and 
shampooers, peacock-dancers and men whose profes- 
sion it was to provide warm baths for their customers. 
Of course the Brahman element was strongly repre- 
sented in this great procession from the flourishing 
city to the solitudes of the forest. Bharata's march is 
described at great length by the poet ; but only one 
incident need be mentioned here. On the way the 
hermit Bharadvaja, desirous of doing Bharata honour, 
and probably not unwilling to display his power, 
invited him and his followers, of whom, as we have 
seen, there were many thousands, to a feast at his 
hermitage. At the command of the saint the forest 
became transformed into lovely gardens, abounding in 
flowers and fruit. Palaces of matchless beauty sprang 
into existence. Music filled the cool and perfumed 
air. Food and drink, including meat and wine, 
appeared in profusion : — soups and curries are especi- 
ally mentioned, and the flesh of goats and bears, deer, 
peacocks and cocks; also rice, milk and sugar. In 
addition to all this, a host of heavenly nymphs from 



THE STORY 37 

Swarga descended to indulge in soft dalliance with the 
ravished warriors of Bharata's army. 

" Then beauteous women, seven or eight, 
Stood ready by each man to wait. 
Beside the stream his limbs they stripped, 
And in the cooling water dipped, 
And then the fair ones, sparkling- eyed, 
With soft hands rubbed his limbs and dried, 
And sitting on the lovely bank 
Held up the wine-cup as he drank." 

— Griffith. 

For one day and one night the intoxicating enjoy- 
ment continued ; and then, at the word of command, 
all the creations of the sage's power vanished, leaving 
the forest in its wonted gloom. 

Having taken a respectful leave of the mighty 
ascetic, Bharata and his followers threaded their way 
through the dense forests towards the Mountain 
Chitrakuta and the Biver Mandakini. After a long 
march they at last found the object of their desire, the 
high-souled Bama, "seated in a cottage, bearing a 
head of matted locks, clad in black deerskin and having 
tattered cloth and bark for his garment. - " When 
Bama heard of his father's death he was deeply moved 
and fell insensible upon the ground, " like a blooming 
tree that hath been hewn by an axe." The loving 
Yaidehi (Sita) and the brothers Lakshmana and 
Bharata sprinkled water on the face of the prostrate 
man and restored him to animation, when he at once 
burst into loud and prolonged lamentations. Presently 
Bama pulled himself together and duly performed the 
funeral rites, pouring out libations of water and 
making an offering of ingudi fruits to the spirit of his 
departed father. These offerings were not worthy of 
being presented to the manes of so great a man as 
Dasahratha ; but were justifiable, under the circum- 



38 THE RAMAYANA 

stances of the case, on the accepted principle that 
" that which is the fare of an individual is also the 
fare of his divinities." x Bharata and the rest, 
respectfully sitting before Eama with joined hands, 
entreated him, with the greatest humility, to undertake 
the reins of government ; but he was not to be per- 
suaded to do so. He would not break the resolution 
he had made, nor would he be disloyal to his dead 
father's commands. Then Javali, a Brahman atheist, 
insisting that there was and could be no hereafter, 
that Dasahratha, once his sire, was now mere nothing, 
advised the prince to yield to the reasonable wishes of 
the living and return with them to rule over the king- 
dom of his ancestors. Kama, however, warmly 
rebuked the atheist -for his impiety, and all that 
Bharata could accomplish was merely to induce him 
to put off from his feet a pair of sandals adorned with 
gold, which he (Bharata) carried back with him in 
great state to the deserted Ayodhya — now inhabited 
only by cats and owls — as a visible symbol of his 
brother Kama, in whose name he undertook to carry 
on the affairs of the State until the appointed fourteen 
years of exile should have run their course. 

The incidents connected with Kama's exile to the 
forests, his life and rambles at Chitrakuta, Bharata's 
imposing march through the same wooded country 
which the exiles had traversed, affords the poet of the 
"Kamayana" rare opportunities of displaying his 
love for the picturesque and his strong natural leaning 
towards the serene, if uneventful, life of the hermit. 
Often in these early forest rovings, and indeed through- 

1 This significant passage from the " Eamayana " ought to 
clear away the doubts that may linger in anyone's mind regard- 
ing the fact that animal food was commonly eaten in ancient 
India, since animal sacrifices are constantly referred to. Of 
course there is abundant positive evidence on the subject as in 
the preceding page. 



THE STORY 39 

out the fourteen years of exile, does Rama, or some 
other one, linger to note and admire the beauties of 
woodland and landscape, and to hold loving communion 
with the fair things of field and forest. Though he 
praises the cities, and pictures their grandeur of gold 
and gems, it is plain throughout that the poet's heart 
is in the woods, displaying on his part an appreciation 
of the charms of nature and scenery, very remarkable, 
indeed, when we consider how slowly the taste for the 
beauties of inanimate nature was developed in Europe. 
After Bharata's return to Aj^odhya, Rama and his 
companions moved further southwards, in the direction 
of the great forest of Dandhaka, which extended indeed 
as far as the Godavari. In their wanderings they came 
to the abode of a certain ascetic whose wife, having 
performed severe austerities for ten thousand years, 
was privileged, during ten years of drought, to create 
fruits and roots for the sustenance of the people and 
to divert the course of the river Jumna, so that its 
waters should flow by the thirsty asylum of the 
hermits. This ancient dame took a great fancy to 
Yaidehi, and, woman-like, gave her fair disciple a 
worthy gift, consisting of fine apparel, of beautiful 
ornaments, a precious cosmetic for the beautification 
of her person, and a rare garland of flowers. Nor was 
the old lady contented until she had seen the effect of 
her present on Janaka's charming daughter, who had 
pleased her much by her good sense in affirming that 
" the asceticism of woman is ministering unto her 
husband." 

Wheresoever the exiles turned their steps, in these 
almost trackless forests, they were told of the evil 
doings of the Rakshasas, who not only interrupted the 
sacrifices, but actually carried off and devoured the 
anchorites. Very curious, too, were the ways in which 
some of these Rakshasas compassed the destruction of 
the saints. One of them, the wily Ilwala, well 



40 THE RAMAYANA 

acquainted with Sanskrit, would assume the form of a 
Brahman and invite the hermits to a sraddha feast. 
His brother, in the assumed form of a sheep, would be 
slaughtered and cooked for his guests. When they 
had enjoyed their repast the cruel Ilwala would com- 
mand his brother Vatapi to " come forth," which he 
would do unreluctantly, and with a vengeance, bleat- 
ing loudly and rending the bodies of the unhappy 
guests, of whom thousands were disposed of in this 
truly Eakshasa fashion. It is noteworthy that those 
ascetics who had, by long and severe austerities, 
acquired a goodly store of merit, might easily have 
made short work of the Eakshasas ; but, on the other 
hand, if they allowed their angry passions to rise, even 
against such impious beings, they would, while punish- 
ing their tormentors, have inevitably lost the entire 
advantage of their long and painful labours. Hence 
many of the hermits made a direct appeal to Kama 
for protection. 

Entering the forest of Dandhaka the exiles en- 
countered a huge, terrible and misshapen monster, 
besmeared with fat and covered with blood, who was 
roaring horribly with his widely distended mouth, 
while with his single spear he held transfixed before 
him quite a menagerie of lions, tigers, leopards and 
other wild animals. This awful being rushed towards 
the trio, and, quick as thought, snatched up the gentle 
Vaidehi in his arms, bellowing out " I am a Eakshasa, 
Viradha by name. This forest is my fortress. Ac- 
coutred in arms I range (here), feeding on the flesh of 
ascetics. This transcendantly beauteous one shall be 
my wife. And in battle I shall drink your blood, 
wretches that ye are." At this juncture, Eama, as on 
some other trying occasions, gave way to unseason- 
able lamentations and tears ; but Lakshmana, always 
practical, bravely recalled him to the necessity of 
immediate action. The Eakshasa, having ascertained 



THE STORY 41 

who his opponents were, vauntingly assured them 
that, having gratified Brahrna by his asceticism, he 
had obtained this boon from him, that no one in the 
world could slay him with weapons ; and he mock- 
ingly advised the princes to renounce Sita and go their 
way. But Rama's wrath was now kindled, and he 
began a vigorous attack upon the monster, piercing 
him with many arrows. A short, though fierce, 
combat ensued, the result being that the Eakshasa 
seized and carried off both Rama and Lakshmana on 
his ample shoulders. His victory now seemed com- 
plete, and Sita, — who had apparently been dropped 
during the combat, — dreading to be left alone in the 
terrible wilderness, piteously implored the monster 
(whom she insinuatingly addressed as the " best of 
Rakshasas ") to take her and to release the noble 
princes. The sound of her dear voice acted like a 
charm upon the brothers, and, with a vigorous and 
simultaneous effort, they broke both the monster's 
arms at once, and then attacked him with their fists. 
They brought him to the ground exhausted, and 
Rama, planting his foot upon the throat of his pro- 
strate foe, directed Lakshmana to dig a deep pit for his 
reception, and when it was ready, they flung him into 
it. The dying monster, thus overcome, though not 
with lueapons, explained that he had been imprisoned 
in that dreadful form of his by the curse of a famous 
ascetic, and was destined to be freed from it only by 
the hand of Rama. With this explanation the spirit 
of the departed Viradha passed into the celestial 
regions. 

Rama, with his wife and brother, now sought the 
hermitage of the sage Sarabhanga, and on approach- 
ing it, a strange, unexpected and imposing ^ight pre- 
sented itself to Rama's view : — Indra, attended by his 
court, in conversation with the forest sage ! The god 
of heaven, in clean apparel and adorned with celestial 



42 THE RAMAYANA 

jewels, was seated in a wondrous car drawn by green 
horses up in the sky. Over him was expanded a spot- 
less umbrella, and two lovely damsels waved gold- 
handled choivrees above his head. About him were 
bands of resplendent celestials hymning his praises. 

At Eama's approach the god withdrew and the sage 
advised the prince to seek the guidance of another 
ascetic named Sutikshna, adding, " This is thy course, 
thou best of men. Do thou now, my child, for a space 
look at me while I leave off my limbs, even as a ser- 
pent renounces its slough." Then kindling a sacri- 
ficial fire, and making oblations to it with the appro- 
priate mantras, Sarabhanga entered the flames himself. 
The fire consumed his old decrepit body, and he was 
gradually transformed, in the midst of the flames, 
into a splendid youth of dazzling brightness, and, 
mounting upwards, ascended to the heaven of Brahma. 
After Sarabhanga had left the earth in this striking 
manner, bands of ascetics waited on Eama, reminded 
him of his duty as a king, and solicited his protection 
against the Eakshasas. As Eama and his companions 
wandered on through the forests another wonder soon 
engaged their attention. Sweet music reached them 
from beneath the waters of a charming lake covered 
with lotuses, and on inquiring about the strange 
phenomenon, a hermit told them that a great ascetic 
had formed that lake. By his fierce austerities, ex- 
tending over ten thousand years, he had acquired 
such a store of merit that the gods, with Agni at their 
head, began to fear that he desired a position of 
equality with themselves. To lure him away from 
such ideas they sent him five lovely Apsaras to try 
the power of their charms upon him. Sage though 
he was, he succumbed to their allurements, and now, 
weaned from his old ambitions, he passed his time in 
youth and happiness — the reward of his austerities 
and yoga practices — in the company of the seductive 



THE STORY 43 

sirens whose sweet voices, blending with the tinklings 
of their instruments, came softly to the ears of the 
wandering princes. 

Sita, who had confidently followed her husband, 
like his very shadow, through all these adventurous 
years in the forest, seems at length to have been 
somewhat shaken by the very risky encounter with 
Viradha, of which she had been an unwilling and 
terrified eye-witness, in which her own person had 
been the object of contention, and which had threatened, 
at one critical moment, to end very tragically for her 
and her loved ones. Under the influence of these 
recent and impressive experiences, Sita ventured, in 
her gentle, womanly way, to suggest to her husband 
the advisability of avoiding all semblance of hostility 
towards the Rakshasas. There were, she timidly 
assured her husband, three sins to which desire gave 
rise : untruthfulness, the coveting of other men's 
wives, and the wish to indulge in unnecessary hos- 
tilities. Of untruthfulness, and of allowing his 
thoughts to stray towards other women, Sita un- 
hesitatingly exonerated her lord ; but she artfully 
insinuated that, in his dealings with the Rakshasas, 
he was giving way to the sin of provoking hostilities 
without adequate cause, and she advised his laying 
aside his arms during his wanderings in the forest ; 
since the mere carrying of bows and arrows was 
enough to kindle the wish to use them. To give 
point to this contention, Yaidehi related how, in the 
olden time, there lived in the woods a truthful ascetic 
whose incessant austerities Indra desired, for some 
reason or other, to frustrate. For the attainment of 
his end the king of heaven visited the hermit in the 
guise of a warrior, and left his sword with him as a 
trust. Scrupulously regardful of his obligation to 
his visitor, the ascetic carried the sword with him 
wherever duty or necessity directed his footsteps, till 



44 THE RAMAYANA 

constant association with the weapon began to en- 
gender fierce sentiments, leading eventually to the 
spiritual downfall of the poor ascetic, whose ultimate 
portion was hell. Eama received Sita's advice in the 
loving spirit in which it was offered, and thanking her 
for it, explained that it was his duty to protect the 
saints from the oppression of the evil Eakshasas, and 
that Kshatriyas carried bows in order that the word 
" distressed " might not be known on this earth. 

Several years of exile slipped away, not unpleas- 
antly, in the shady forests through which the royal 
brothers roamed from hermitage to hermitage, always 
accompanied by the lovely and faithful Sita, whose 
part throughout is one of affectionate, unfaltering and 
unselfish devotion to her husband. On the banks of 
the Godavari, Lakshmana, who has to do all the hard 
work for the party, built them a spacious hut of clay, 
leaves and bamboos, propped with pillars and furnished 
with a fine level floor, and there they lived happily 
near the rushing river. At length the brothers got 
involved in a contest with a brood of giants who roved 
about the woods of Dandhaka, delighting, as usual, in 
the flesh of hermits and the interruption of sacred 
rites. This time it was a woman who was at the 
bottom of their troubles. Surpanakha, an ugly giantess 
and sister of Havana, charmed with the beauty and 
grace of Eama, came to him, and, madly in love, 
offered to be his wife. But Eama in flattering terms 
put her off, saying he was already married. In sport, 
apparently, he bid her try her luck with Lakshmana. 
She took his advice, but Lakshmana does not seem 
to have been tempted by the offer, and, while artfully 
addressing her as " supremely charming and superbly 
beautiful lady," advised her to become the younger 
wife of Eama, to whom he referred her again. En- 
raged by this double rejection, the giantess attempted 
to kill Sita, as the hated obstacle to the fulfilment of 



THE STORY 45 

her desires. The brothers, of course, interposed, and 
Lakshrnana, always impetuous, punished the monster 
by cutting off her nose. Surpanakha fled away to 
her brother Khara, and roused the giant Eakshasas 
to avenge her wounds. These terrible giants pos- 
sessed the power of changing their forms at will ; but 
their numbers and their prowess were alike of little 
avail against the valour and skill of Rama, who, alone 
and unaided, — for he sent Lakshrnana away with Sita 
into an inaccessible cave, — destroyed fourteen thousand 
of them in a single day. The combat, which was 
witnessed by the gods and Gandharvas, Siddhas and 
Charanas, is described at great length, and the nar- 
rative is copiously interspersed with the boastful 
speeches of the rival chiefs. In the bewildering con- 
flict of that day his fourteen thousand assailants 
poured upon Rama showers of arrows, rocks, and 
trees. Coming to close quarters they attacked him 
vigorously w 7 ith clubs, darts, and nooses. Although 
hard pressed and sorely wounded, the hero main- 
tained the conflict with undaunted courage, sending 
such thousands of w 7 onderful arrows from his bow 
that the sun was darkened and the missiles of his 
enemies warded off by them. Finally Rama suc- 
ceeded in laying dead upon that awful field of carnage 
nearly the entire number of his fierce assailants. 
Khara, the leader of the opposing host, a worthy 
adversary and possessed of wondrous weapons, still 
lived. Enraged at, but undaunted by, the wholesale 
destruction of his followers, Khara boldly continued 
the fight. In his war-chariot, bright as the sun, he 
seemed to be the Destroyer himself, as he fiercely 
assailed the victorious Rama. With one arrow he 
severed the hero's bow in his hand ; with seven other 
shafts like thunder-bolts he severed his armour joints, 
so that the glittering mail fell from his body. He 
next wounded the prince with a thousand darts. Not 



46 THE RAMAYANA 

yet overcome, however, Eama strung another bow, 
the mighty bow of Vishnu, and discharging shafts 
with golden feathers, brought Khara's standard to 
the ground. Transported with wrath at this ill- 
omened event, Khara poured five arrows into Eama's 
bosom. The prince responded with six terrible bolts, 
some of them crescent-headed. One struck the chief 
in the head, two of the others entered his arms, and 
the remaining three his chest. Following these up 
with thirteen of the same kind, Kama destroyed his 
enemy's chariot, killed his horses, decapitated his 
charioteer, and shattered his bow in his grasp. Khara 
jumped to the ground armed with a mace, ready to 
renew the conflict. At this juncture Kama paused a 
moment to read the Kakshasa a homily on his evil 
doings; the latter replied with fierce boasts, and 
hurled his mace at Kama, who cut it into two frag- 
ments with his arrows as it sped through the air. 
Khara now uprooted a lofty tree and hurled it at his 
foe ; but, as before, Kama cut it into pieces with his 
arrow ere it reached him, and with a shaft resembling 
fire put a period to the life of the gallant Kakshasa. 
At this conclusion of the conflict the celestials sounded 
their kettle-drums, and showered down flowers upon 
the victorious son of Dasahratha. Thus perished the 
Bakshasa army and its mighty leader : 

" But of the host of giants one, 
Akampan, from the field had run, 
And sped to Lanka to relate 
In Havana's ear the demon's fate." 

— Griffith. 

This fugitive made his way to the court of Kavana, 
the king of the giants, and related to him the sad 
fate of his followers. Close on the heels of Akampan 
came Surpanakha herself, with her cruelly mutilated 
face. Transported with rage at the destruction of his 



THE STORY 47 

armies and at sight of the disfigured countenance of 
his sister, the terrible Kakshasa chief vowed vengeance 
on Rama and Lakshmana. But the necessity for great 
caution in dealing with such valorous foes was ap- 
parent, and Havana did not seem over-anxious to 
leave his comfortable capital, Lanka, in order to seek 
out the formidable brothers in the woods ofDandhaka. 
But Surpanakha, scorned and mutilated, was thirsting 
for an early and bitter revenge. Reproaching her 
brother for his unkingly supineness, she artfully gave 
him a description of Sita's beauty, far superior to that 
of any goddess, which served to kindle unlawful de- 
sires in his heart. She referred to Yaidehi's golden 
complexion, her moon-like face, her lotus eyes, her 
slender waist, her taper fingers, her swelling bosom, 
her ample hips and lovely thighs, till the giant was 
only too willing to assent to her suggestion, that the 
most effectual and agreeable revenge he could take 
for the destruction of his hosts, and the cruel insults 
to his sister, would be to carry off the fair Sita, by 
stratagem, from the arms of her devoted husband, 
and thus add the lovely daughter of Janaka to the 
number, not very small, of the beauties who adorned 
his palace at Lanka. We shall presently see that 
the plot was ingeniously contrived and too success- 
fully carried out. 

How conveniently the race of Bakshasas" could 
assume at will the forms in which they chose to 
appear, we know already. Taking advantage of this 
faculty of metamorphosis, a Bakshasa named Maricha, 
in obedience to Bavana's orders, showed himself near 
Bama's hermitage, in the shape of a wonderful golden 
deer, spotted with silver, having horns resembling 
jewels, a belly like a sapphire, and sides like madbuka 
flowers. The strange creature captivated the fancy 
of Sita, and she was so eager to possess it, alive or 
dead, that Bama was induced to go in pursuit of it. 



48 THE RAMAYANA 

Suspecting mischief from this unusual appearance, 
Rama left his brother with Sita, commanding him on 
no account to quit her side until he returned from his 
pursuit of the jewelled deer. The chase led him to a 
considerable distance from the hermitage. Weary of 
his endeavours to secure the deer, Rama grew angry, 
and, with one of his flaming arrows, pierced it in the 
breast. It bounded off the ground to the height of a 
palm tree and, in the act of dying, began to cry, 
exactly in the voice of Rama, "Ah! Sita; Ah! 
Lakshmana." The words reached the hermitage, as 
they were intended to do, and Sita, in an agony of 
terror, implored Lakshmana to go to the aid of his 
brother, who seemed to be in some dire trouble. 
Lakshmana, however, protested that it was all illusion, 
and refused to believe that Rama could be in any real 
danger ; for, as he assured the trembling wife, " even 
the Almighty Himself with the celestials and the three 
worlds cannot defeat him " (Dutt, 609). But Vaidehi 
took another view of the matter, and turning sharply 
upon her brother-in-law accused him roundly of de- 
siring the destruction of Rama in order that he might 
gratify an improper wish to possess her himself. This, 
indeed, she said, must have been the reason that 
brought him all the way from Ayodhya. What, if 
any, grounds the charming lady may have had for 
this accusation does not appear. They could have 
been known only to herself and to Lakshmana, who, 
with joined hands, humbly reproached her for her 
cruel words, and bending low before her went off, with 
a heavy heart, in search of his brother. 

In a garment (probably a saree) of yellow silk, Sita 
sat alone at the door of her thatched cottage, weeping 
bitterly, when Ravana presented himself before her, 
in the guise of a pious medicant. Ravished by her 
beauty, this pious medicant began, without ceremony, 
to praise the various charms of Sita's person with the 



THE STORY 49 

most reprehensible license of detail. Nor did he stop 
there, but telling her that she had carried away his 
heart, as a stream carries away its banks, invited her 
to accompany him out of the gloomy forest, tenanted 
by Eakshasas and wild beasts, and quite unfit for the 
abode of a goddess like herself. 

As her visitor was in appearance a Brahman, she 
dutifully attended to him, bringing him water to wash 
his feet with, and food to eat, while her eyes were 
straining through the forest for her absent lord. 
Dreading that her Brahman guest might curse her if 
she did not speak to him, Yaidehi began to relate the 
history of her exile, addressing the seeming medicant 
in such flattering terms as "thou best of twice born 
ones." After listening to her story, Havana revealed 
himself to her, and again declaring his love, invited 
her to become his wife in the great city of Lanka, 
where she should live in luxury, attended by five 
thousand maid- servants. Sita indignantly spurned 
the offer, threatening the Bakshasa with the conse- 
quences of her husband's anger. While indulging in 
boastful speeches regarding his own prowess, Havana 
assumed his natural form, with ten heads and twenty 
arms. As he stood there before Yaidehi, "his eyes 
were bloody, and he appeared beautiful like unto blue 
clouds, being dressed in gold-hued apparel (Dutt). 
Approaching the adorable Sita, the enamoured giant 
caught her hair with one hand and her legs with 
another and carried her off, through the air, in his 
golden car drawn by asses. As she was being borne 
away, the fair lady cried aloud for help, invoking the 
sylvan deities to tell her husband whither, and by 
whom, she had been carried off. Her voice reached 
the virtuous Jatayus, the king of birds, who, though 
sixty thousand years old, immediately interposed to 
rescue her. A furious and picturesque battle ensued, 
in which the huge vulture-king, with his formidable 

E 



50 



THE BA MAYAN A 



beak, talons, and wings, made a gallant stand against 
Eavana, in the cause of virtue and his friend Rama, 
but eventually lost his noble life in the struggle, and 
left his huge bones to mark, to this day, the scene of 
his terrible aerial conflict with the demon. 1 The 




The Abduction of Sita. 
(From an illustrated Urdu version of the " Kamayana.") 

victorious Eavana carried Sita away through the air 
in his arms. Some of her ornaments fell to the ground 
as the two sped along in their journey towards Lanka, 

1 Near Salem in Southern India are "some chalk hills sup- 
posed by the natives to be formed of the bones of the mythical 
bird Jaytayus, killed by Eavana when carrying off Sita." — 
Professor Sir Monier Williams's " Modern India," p. 165. 



THE STORY 51 

and showers of blossoms, falling from her head, were 
scattered around. At this sorrowful event the sun hid 
his face and all nature was oppressed with grief. Not 
yet despairing of succour, the brave-hearted Sita ob- 
served, as she passed along in mid-air, five monkey- 
chiefs seated on the summit of a hill, and, unnoticed 
by Eavana, dropped amongst them her gold-coloured 
sheet and some glittering ornaments, in the hope that 
they might convey to Rama the intelligence of her 
abduction by the giant. But Fate had more sorrow 
in store for her. Over mountain peaks, over rivers, 
over the sea, Eavana conveyed his prize without meet- 
ing with further opposition, and lodged her safely in 
his magnificent palace in Lanka, where he treated her 
with the greatest consideration, and wooed her like a 
youthful lover, placing her tender feet upon his heads 
and professing himself her obedient slave. 

Eama, on discovering the loss he had. suffered, was 
in despair. Sometimes he would indulge in excessive 
lamentations, wildly calling upon the trees and 
streams, the deer of the forest and the birds of the air, 
to tell him where his love had gone. At other times, 
assuming a different tone, he would petulantly threaten 
to destroy " the three worlds," if the celestials did 
not restore Yaidehi to his arms. At such moments 
Lakshmana would address his brother in the most 
abject terms of flattery, and gently remind him of 
the necessity of doing his duty and preserving his 
dignity. 

Eoaming about in search of the lost Sita, the 
brothers came across Jatayus lying, in mortal agony, 
amidst the fragments of Havana's wonderful car and 
his shattered umbrella. All that Eama could learn 
from the dying king of the vultures was the name and 
rank of the Eakshasa who had carried off his wife, 
and in a frenzy of grief he rolled upon the ground, 
uttering vain lamentations. Presently the brothers 



52 THE EAMAYANA 

piously erected a funeral pile for the dead bird, and 
having cremated the body, proceeded in their search 
for Sita, when they encountered a horrid deformed 
monster, named Kabandha ; thus described by the 
poet: 

" There stood before their wondering eyes 
A fiend, broad-chested, huge of size ; 
A vast misshapen trunk they saw 
In height surpassing nature's law. 
It stood before them dire and dread, 
Without a neck, without a head, 
Tall as some hill aloft in air, 
Its limbs were clothed with bristling hair, 
And deep below the monster's waist 
His vast misshapen mouth was placed. 
His form was huge, his voice was loud 
As some dark- tinted thunder-cloud. 
A brilliance as of gushing flame 
Beneath long lashes dark and keen 
The monster's single eye was seen." 1 

In the battle which ensued the terrible monster had 
his two arms cut off by Eama and Lakshmana re- 
spectively, and in this helpless condition he explained 
that, though naturally endowed with a surpassingly 
beautiful form, he used to assume this monstrous 
one in order to frighten the ascetics in the forests ; 
but one of these saints, in a moment of anger, invoked 
this curse upon him, that he should retain the dis- 
gusting form he had adopted, at least till, in course 
of time, Kama should in person deliver him from its 
repulsive deformity. The brothers placed the giant's 
bulky body on a funeral pyre, and from the ashes 
arose a beautiful being, clad in celestial raiment, at 
whose suggestion Kama sought the friendship and aid 
of Sugriva, King of the Yanaras, by whose assistance 

1 Mr. Griffith's "Kamayana," vol. ill., p. 324. 



THE STORY 53 

he hoped to find out to what particular spot his be- 
loved wife had been conveyed by Havana. Rama, in 
due course, found Sugriva and made the acquaintance 
of his chief councillor the famous Hanuman, a son of 
the god of the winds. When Rama met Sugriva, the 
latter was, like himself, an exile from his native land, 
having been expelled from it by his elder brother, 
King Bali, who had also taken unto himself Ruma, 
Sugriva' s wife. The deposed monarch was wandering, 
with a few faithful monkey companions, in the forest, 
and it was amongst them, resting together on a 
mountain peak, that Sita had dropped her yellow robe 
and golden ornaments. A sort of offensive and de- 
fensive alliance was formed between the two banished 
princes, who were, moreover, drawn towards one 
another by the fact that each had been forcibly de- 
prived of his consort. Rama was to help Sugriva to 
overthrow Bali, secure the Vanar sceptre and recover 
his wife Ruma ; while Sugriva, on his part, was to 
assist Rama to discover Sita's whereabouts and to 
destroy her abductor. So great was the dread Sugriva 
entertained of the prowess of his warlike brother Bali, 
that, before committing himself to this alliance with 
Rama, he desired that prince to give him some prac- 
tical illustration of what he could do as a wielder of 
warlike weapons ; whereupon Rama shot from his 
mighty bow a wondrous arrow, which, after passing 
through the stems of seven palm trees, traversed a 
hill which stood behind them, then flew through six 
subterranean realms and finally returned to the hands 
of the bowman. Before this feat all Sugriva' s doubts 
vanished and he was ready for action. 

At Rama's suggestion he proceeded to the great 
Vanar city Kishkindha, and, in a voice of thunder, 
dared Bali to single combat. The impetuous and 
passionate King of the Vanars accepted the challenge 
at once, and an exceedingly fierce encounter took 



54 THE RAMAYANA 

place between the brothers outside the walls of the 
city. At length Sugriva seemed to be failing, when 
Eama, who was standing by in ambush, pierced Bali 
in the breast with one of those fatal arrows of his. As 
might have been expected, Bali, with the life-blood 
welling from his wounds, reproached Bama bitterly 
for his base, unfair, and cowardly interposition in the 
battle between himself and Sugriva ; but Bama justified 
his action by saying that he was lord paramount of 
the whole country, that Kishkindha came within the 
realm of Dasahratha, and that Bali had justly forfeited 
his life by his misconduct in appropriating his 
brother's wife. Bama further remarked, contemptu- 
ously, that the lives of mere Yanars or monkeys, as of 
other animals, were of little account in the eyes of 
men ; a remark which seems strange, indeed, when 
we reflect that Bali was the king of a magnificent 
city decorated with gold, silver and ivory, and that 
Bali's brother was Bama's much desired ally. 1 

As Bali lay prostrate on the ground his disconsolate 
queen, Tara, hastened to the fatal spot, with her little 
son Angad, and, in a passion of grief, threw herself 
upon the body of her husband. She gave way to the 
most touching sorrow and lamentation over the dying 
warrior and seemed inconsolable, both then and later 
on when performing the last rites for the deceased 
king. Had we seen no more of Tara she would have 
lived as a tender and pleasant memory in our minds ; 
but, unfortunately, she reappears a very short time 
after as Sugriva's much loved and ardent consort, 
and actually appears grateful to Bama for the benefit 
his deed had conferred upon the new king and herself. 

By the time Sugriva was formerly installed in the 

1 As respects the Vanars it has to be noted that while imply- 
ing that they were monkeys and nothing more, the poet has, for 
the most part, represented them — if we may judge by their 
sentiments and actions — as beings of a very superior order. 



THE STORY 55 

government of Kishkindha, the rainy season came 
round, — a time of the year when, in a roadless country, 
all military or other movements were impossible. 
Rama, faithful to the conditions of his exile, would 
not enter the city, and easily contented himself with a 
life in the woodland, which, with its glittering fount- 
ains and laughing streams, its stately trees, sweet- 
throated birds and odorous flowers, he was never tired 
of admiring. 

In return for the service rendered him by Rama, 
his ally Sugriva, now King of the Vanars, assembled 
countless numbers (hundreds of hundreds of mil- 
lions !) of Yanars (monkeys and bears of different 
colours — white, yellow and green) and sent them 
forth to search for Sita. North, south, east and west, 
these Yanars traversed every land and searched every 
possible retreat. From north, east and west, were 
received reports of want of success ; but from the 
south came welcome tidings of the discovery of Sita 
by Hanuman, one of the chief captains of the Yanar 
host, a son of the wind-god by a nymph of paradise. 
The discovery of Sita's place of captivity was made in 
this way. In their active search for traces of her 
whereabouts, some captains of the Yanar army of the 
south came across Sampati, the huge brother of 
Jatayus, the king of the vultures, lying upon the top 
of a high mountain. Bulky and powerful, the bird 
was yet quite disabled and helpless, having had his 
wings scorched and destroyed in a too adventurous 
flight towards the sun, which he had once undertaken 
in a spirit of vanity and boastfulness. But even in 
this unhappy state, dependent for his daily food upon 
the filial devotion of his son, the old bird could, with 
his penetrating eye, see clearly to enormous distances. 
He had witnessed Ravana's hurried flight through the 
air, with his beautiful prize, and had noted also that 
she had been conveyed by the Rakshasa to Lanka 



56 THE RAMAYANA 

beyond the sea. This information he now communi- 
cated to the inquiring Vanars, and having thereby 
performed a signal service to the son of Dasahratha, 
his feathers sprouted again and he joyfully mounted 
once more into his native element on new and lusty 
pinions. 

Sita's place of captivity was thus known to the 
Vanar ; but how to reach Lanka — separated as it was 
from the mainland by an arm of the sea — became the 
urgent problem of the hour to the Yanar commanders 
of the army of the south. If Sita was to be restored 
to the arms of Eama, it was absolutely necessary that 
some one should get to Lanka as a spy, in order to 
ascertain the facts in regard to Sita's captivity there, 
and to discover the strength of Eavana's army and his 
means of resisting an attack from without. Ships or 
even boats were, in those primitive times, not to be 
thought of ; but the monkey could leap, and so it was 
proposed that some leader of the race should essay the 
rather long jump across the strait which separated 
Lanka from the continent. Who was so fitted for this 
undertaking as the son of the wind-god, the redoubt- 
able Hanuman ? Accordingly, after a great deal of 
boasting, Hanuman, assuming a gigantic size, took 
the flying leap. The gods were well disposed towards 
his brave venture, but there were also enemies on the 
path, who endeavoured to stop him on his way. One 
of these was Surasa, the mother of the Nagas, who, 
rushing upon him with wide-extended jaws, mock- 
ingly told him that he must pass through her mouth 
before proceeding any further on his journey. Hanu- 
man dilated his person till his stature attained many 
leagues, but the monster's mouth grew larger still. 
The cunning monkey now suddenly contracted his 
dimensions to the size of a man's thumb and jumped 
airily into and out of Surasa's gaping mouth. He 
had fulfilled his enemy's conditions and she good- 



THE STORY 57 

naturedly acknowledged her defeat. His next oppo- 
nent, a terrific she-dragon, the fierce Sinhika, mar- 
vellously caught his shadow as it glided over the sea, 
and in some mysterious way retarded his progress 
thereby. With open mouth she made a furious 
onslaught upon the wind-god's son. Hanuman, equal 
to the occasion, craftily contracted his dimensions, 
and jumping into Sinhika's cavern-like mouth, in- 
flicted so much injury upon her that she died. After 
this interruption he continued his aerial journey to 
Lanka, probably making Sinhika's carcass the base of 
a fresh leap towards the island, though this is not 
expressly mentioned by the poet. 

When he had reached the island-kingdom of Havana, 
the Yanar spy, contracting his dimensions to those 
of an ordinary cat, found his way by moonlight within 
the golden walls of the city, and, lost in admiration, 
wandered about the wonderful streets of Havana's 
capital, where tonsured priests and mail-clad warriors 
mingled freely with bands of ascetics in deerskins, and 
fiends both foul and fair. Eluding the guards, Hanu- 
man crept into the palace. Here everything was on a 
scale to astonish even the wind-god's son, familiar with 
the glories of Kishkindha ; but most of all did he find 
food for admiration in Havana's enchanted car, 
avowedly the most perfect work that had been pro- 
duced by Visvakarma, the architect of the gods. 

" There shone with gems that flashed afar, 
The marvel of the Flower-named car, 
'Mid wondrous dwellings still confessed 
Supreme and nobler than the rest. 
Thereon with wondrous art designed 
Were turkis birds of varied kind, 
And many a sculptured serpent rolled 
His twisted coil in burnished gold. 
And steeds were there of noblest form, 
With flying feet as fleet as storm : 



58 THE RAMAYANA 

And elephants with deftest skill 
Stood sculptured by a silver rill, 
Each bearing on his trunk a wreath 
Of lilies from the flood beneath. 
There Lakshmi, beauty's heavenly queen, 
Wrought by the artist's skill was seen 
Beside a flower-clad pool to stand, 
Holding a lotus in her hand." 1 

— Griffith (bk. v., canto vii.). 

The zenana or women's apartment, guarded by she- 
demons, 2 which Hanuman next entered in the still 
hours of the night, when the feast was over, the music 
had ceased and all the inmates were hushed in 
slumber, affords the poet the opportunity of painting 
a charming picture, which the reader will, I am sure, 
thank me for reproducing here in Mr. Griffith's agree- 
able version : 

" He stood within a spacious hall 
With fretted roof and painted wail, 
The giant Eavan's boast and pride, 
Loved even as a lovely bride. 
'Twere long to tell each marvel there, 
The crystal floor, the jewelled stair, 

1 This ear from the hand of Visvakarma recalls the famous 
embossed shield of Achilles, the masterpiece of Vulcan's art, 
made of brass, tic, gold and silver, and divided into twelve com- 
partments, each representing a distinct and complicated scene 
(for example, a wedding procession or a battle) wrought with 
marvellous skill. 

2 There can be no doubt whatever that the seclusion of women 
was the common practice in ancient India. Wherever polygamy 
exists the seclusion of women is a necessity, and that polygamy 
did exist in the India of the " Eamayana" is abundantly evident 
from what we are told concerning the courts of Dasahratha, 
Sugriva and Eavana. The Greeks kept their women a good 
deal in the background ; but Helen's position in the court of 
her husband Menelaus, or Penelope's in that of Ulysses, was far 
more free than the position of any queen mentioned in the 
" Eamayana." 



THE STORY 59 

The gold, the silver, and the shine 

Of crysolite and almandine. 

There breathed the fairest blooms of spring ; 

There flashed the proud swan's silver wing, 

The splendour of whose feathers broke 

Through fragrant wreaths of aloe smoke. 

* 'Tis Indra's heaven,' the Vanar cried, 

Gazing in joy from side to side ; 

1 The home of all the gods is this, 

The mansion of eternal bliss ! ' 

There were the softest carpets spread, 

Delightful to the sight and tread, 

Where many a lovely woman lay 

O'ercome by sleep, fatigued with play. 

The wine no longer cheered the feast, 

The sound of revelry had ceased. 

The tinkling feet no longer stirred, 

No chiming of a zone was heard. 

So, when each bird has sought her nest, 

And swans are mute and wild bees rest, 

Sleep the fair lilies on the lake 

Till the sun's kiss shall bid them wake. 

Like the calm field of winter's sky 

Which stars unnnmbered glorify, 

So shone and glowed the sumptuous room 

With living stars that chased the gloom. 

' These are the stars,' the chieftain cried, 

' In autumn nights that earthward glide, 

In brighter forms to reappear 

And shine in matchless lustre here.' 

With wondering eyes awhile he viewed 

Each graceful form and attitude. 

One lady's head was backward thrown, 

Bare was her arm and loose her zone. 

The garland that her brow had graced 

Hung closely round another's waist. 

Here gleamed two little feet all bare 

Of anklets that had sparkled there. 

Here lay a queenly dame at rest 



60 THE RAM AY AN A 

In all her glorious garments dressed. 
There slept another whose small hand 
Had loosened every tie and band. 
In careless grace another lay, 
With gems and jewels cast away, 
Like a young creeper when the tread 
Of the wild elephant had spread 
Confusion and destruction round, 
And cast it flowerless to the ground. 
Here lay a slumberer still as death, 
Save only that her balmy breath 
Raised ever and anon the lace 
That flouted o'er her sleeping face. 
There, sunk in sleep, an amorous maid 
Her sweet head on a mirror laid, 
Like a fair lily bending till 
Her petals rest upon the rill. 
Another black-eyed damsel pressed 
Her lute upon her heaving breast, 
As though her loving arms were twined 
Round him for whom her bosom pined. 
Another pretty sleeper round 
A silver vase her arms had wound, 
That seemed, so fresh and fair and young, 
A wreath of flowers that o'er it hung. 
In sweet disorder lay a throng 
Weary of dance and play and song, 
Where heedless girls had sunk to rest, 
One pillowed on another's breast, 
Her tender cheek half seen beneath 
Red roses of the falling wreath, 
The while her long soft hair concealed 
The beauties that her friend revealed. 
With limbs at random interlaced 
Round arm and leg and throat and waist, 
• That wreath of women lay asleep 
Like blossoms in a careless heap." : 

— Griffith (bk. v., canto ix.). 

1 The lover of English poetry will recall to mind the similar 



THE STORY 61 

Still in eager quest of Sita the Vanar roamed 
stealthily from place to place within the spacious 
bounds of the royal palace, and, as day was breaking, 
entered the enchanting ashoka grove, a sort of ideal 
retreat in fairyland. Here Eama's messenger dis- 
covered the weeping, but still peerless, captive, guarded 
by fierce she-demons of monstrous shapes — a weird, 
frightful troupe — some earless, some with ears hang- 
ing down to their feet, some one-eyed, some long- 
necked and covered with hair, some huge, some 
dwarfish, some with faces of buffaloes, others with 
the heads of dogs and swine. Perched upon a bough, 
and concealed by its foliage, Hanuman watched his 
opportunity to open communication with the object of 
his search. Presently Havana, in great state, heralded 
by music and attended by a crowd of ravishing beauties, 
with tinkling zones, entered the grove. Sita, in utter 
despair, fell upon the ground 

"Like Hope when all her dreams are o'er." 

Approaching her kindly, the King of Lanka, who 
was passionately enamoured of her beauty, endeavoured 
to reassure her, and wooed her softly with all the arts 
of flattery, with offers of boundless wealth, and with 
protestations of deep affection. 

" Methinks when thy sweet form was made 

His hand the wise Creator stayed ; 

For never more could he design 

A beauty meet to rival thine. 

Come let us love while yet we may, 

For youth will fly and charms decay." 

— Griffith. 

Sita, ever faithful to her lord, treated his suit with 
scorn ; whereupon the demon king, waxing wrath, 

description of sleeping beauties in the sixth canto of "Don 
Juau," stanzas lxiv.-lxix. 



62 THE RAMAYANA 

threatened to have her killed and served up at his 
table if she persisted in rejecting his advances. Turn- 
ing to leave the palace in high dudgeon, he directed 
the demon guards to bend the fair captive to his will 
by threats and blandishments of every kind. Their 
persuasions being unsuccessful, these horrid mon- 
sters assailed the unfortunate princess with threaten- 
ing weapons; but even in this critical moment the 
pure, chaste wife of Kama preferred death to dis- 
honour. 1 

Amidst the persecutions of the luckless Sita an old 
Kakshasa matron, named Trajata, raised a warning 
voice ; for she had dreamed a dream which foreboded 
the destruction of Lanka by Rama, and she counselled 
the demons to deal kindly by Sita, if they hoped for 
mercy from the conquerors. 

It seems necessary to explain now that it was not 
a sense of honour or a feeling of chivalry that had 
restrained the unscrupulous King of Lanka from the 
gratification of his passion. It was fear only that 
kept him back ; for, as he confidentially explained to 
his assembled lords, having once, under the influence 
of ungovernable desire, dishonoured one of the 
nymphs of Indra's heaven, fair Punjikashthala, 
Brahma had decreed that if Eavana committed the 
same offence again his head should be rent in pieces. 
Of course this fact and the protection thus enjoyed by 
Sita, through dread of Brahma's decree, were quite 
unknown to Rama, whose knowledge was merely 
human. 

At length the Vanar found the long wished-for 

1 The contrast between the fair Vaidehi and her ruthless per- 
secutors in the enchanting ashoka grove might make a striking 
subject for the canvas of an able artist. Indeed, there is in the 
"Bamayana" no lack of suggestive and satisfactory motifs for 
the chisel and the brush. It is, indeed, a mine not yet 
wrought. 



THE STORY 63 

opportunity of communicating with Sita and of con- 
soling her with the hope of an early rescue. He even 
offered to carry her off, there and then, on his 
shoulders, but her modesty shrank from the mere 
thought of voluntarily touching the body of any male 
person beside Eama. The monkey-god then set about 
committing as much destruction as he could in the 
city of Lanka, which, built by Yisvakarma, the 
architect of the gods, is described as surpassingly 
beautiful and encircled by a golden wall. After a 
succession of fierce and successful battles with the 
giants — thousands at the time with their most famous 
captains — Hanuman, covered from head to foot with 
wounds, was noosed by means of a magic shaft from 
the bow of Eavana's son, Indrajit, overpowered and 
taken prisoner. Exceedingly incensed, Ravana 
ordered the destructive and formidable Yanar to be 
put to death at once. One of his counsellors, how- 
ever, suggesting that Hanuman might be regarded in 
the light of an envoy from Eama, it was decided to 
spare his life, but, at the same time, to treat him with 
the greatest indignity before releasing him. In pur- 
suance of this determination his tail was wrapped 
round with cloth dipped in oil, which was then set on 
fire ; but at the prayer of Sita, who came to know 
what was going on in the city, the flames abstained 
from harming her friend. By contracting his dimen- 
sions, Hanuman easily freed himself from his bonds, 
and now, by means of his blazing tail, carried fire and 
destruction through the beautiful city ; after which he 
once more performed his perilous journey through the 
air, back to the mainland of India, bearing tidings of 
his doings to his master and Eama. 

"When the place of Sita's captivity became known, 
the Yanar armies were rapidly advanced southward, 
and encamped on the border of the strait which 
separates Lanka from the mainland of India. Here 



-64 THE RAMAYANA 

they were joined by Vibhishana, Kavana's brother, 
who, with four attendants, had fled through the air 
from Lanka, in dread of the consequences of the 
offence he had given his king, by counselling con- 
ciliatory proceedings towards Eama, of whose for- 
midable prowess he seems to have formed a just 
estimate. 

Vibhishana, on account of his local knowledge and 
great wisdom, was of much service to the Vanar 
host. 

The sea, although it could be crossed by the Kak- 
shasas and by the wind-god's son, Hanuman, was a 
serious impediment to Eama and his Yanar allies. 
Standing on the margin of the trackless ocean which 
barred his march, the chief vented his impatience in a 
shower of his wonderful arrows, which he angrily shot 
into the wide bosom of the deep. His attack stirred 
the waters to their very depths and terrified its strange 
denizens out of their wits. As the hero laid against 
his bow a more formidable arrow than the rest (a fiery 
dart of mystic power), by means of which he threatened 
to dry up the waters of the sea and pass his legions 
over on dry land, all Nature was horrified, darkness 
fell upon land and sea, bright meteors flashed across 
the murky sky, red lightning struck the trembling 
earth, and the firm mountains began to break and 
crumble away. At this critical moment of universal 
terror the grand form of the king of the ocean, attended 
by glittering sea-serpents, rose majestically above the 
seething billows of his watery realm. 1 Addressing 
Kama with great reverence, the ocean-king protested 
that it was impossible to make a dry pathway through 
the sea. 

1 Whoever has not forgotten his Virgil will probably be re- 
minded of the famous storm in the " iEneid " and of Neptune's 
serene and majestic appearance above the troubled waters of the 
sea. 



THE STORY 65 

" Air, ether, fire, earth, water, true 
To Nature's will, their course pursue ; 
And I, as ancient laws ordain, 
Unfordable must still remain." 

— Griffith. 

But he advised that Nala, a Vanar chief, who was 
the son of the architect of the gods (Visvakarnia) 
should be requested to bridge the strait that intervened 
between Eama and the object of his expedition. Nala 
undertook the work, and, under his direction, the 
bridge was successfully completed. The construction 
of the bridge was not opposed, nor the passage dis- 
puted, so the countless hosts l of Vanars passed over 
to the island, with Eama mounted on Hanuman's 
back, Lakshmana on Angad's back, and camped 2 near 
Havana's capital. Even at this stage of events Eavana, 
still under the spell of his passion for the lovely Sita, 
resorted to a stratagem to obtain her consent to his 
wishes. He got a magician of his court to prepare a 
head exactly resembling Eama's, and also a bow and 
arrows such as the hero usually carried, and had them 
brought into Sita's presence, with the tale that her 
lord had been killed while asleep in his camp. Sita, 
completely deceived by the wizard's art, was lament- 
ing her bitter loss, when a messenger hurriedly sum- 
moned Eavana away to see to the defence of his 
capital, and a female attendant took advantage of 
the moment to relieve the fair captive's mind, by 
explaining the deception that had been practised upon 
her. 

1 Some hundred thousand billions (see note to Griffith's 
"Kamayana," vol. v., p. 88). 

2 Camped; but not like a modern army under canvas. The 
Vanars, I trow, needed no commissariat department, living as 
they did on fruits and roots. x\nd the sons of Kaghu were 
nearly as well used to woodland fare and lodging as their simian 
allies. 

F 



66 THE BAMAYANA 

The attack that shortly followed and the defence 
made by the giants are described by Valmiki in con- 
siderable detail, and with much monotonous repetition. 
The Vanars had, for arms, uprooted trees, rocks, and 
mountain peaks; while the Kakshasas fought with 
bows and arrows, swords and spears. Many single 
combats are described. Indrajit, the redoubtable son 
of Kavana, in a desperate encounter, concealed himself 
in a magic mist. Under this protection he fired some 
wondrous serpent-arrows at Kama and Lakshmana, 
which bound the royal brothers in a noose. He then, 
with a storm of missiles, laid them prostrate and ap- 
parently dying. But it was not thus that the contest 
was to end. From their helpless condition Kama and 
Lakshmana were freed by Garuda, who, as the king 
of birds, possessed a special power over the serpent- 
arrows. 

On another occasion Kama with his brother Laksh- 
mana, both sorely wounded, and ever so many of their 
Vanar allies, were restored to life and vigour, by the 
scent of some healing herbs brought by the swift- 
footed Hanuman from the distant Himalayas. In the 
combats around the walls of Lanka, as in other con- 
tests narrated in the " Kamayana," the poet describes 
the power of the various archers to interrupt with their 
arrozvs the shafts of their adversaries, or even the most 
ponderous missiles hurled at them, such as trees and 
rocks. 

With varying success the fierce contest raged round 
the walls of Lanka, when at length the giants, sorely 
pressed, called upon Kumbhakarna to assist them. 
This dreadful monster was Kavana's brother and a 
terror to men and gods. At his birth, or shortly after 
it, he devoured a thousand men. Indra interposed to 
save the human race from his ravages, but only to be 
himself discomfited and driven to seek the protection 
of Brahma, who decreed that Kumbhakarna should 



THE STORY 67 

sleep for six months at a time, and then only wake for 
a single clay. The mere appearance of the monstrous 
giant caused a panic in the Yanar army. Multitudes 
perished under Kumbhakarna's arm and were devoured 
by him ; but such was his voracity that he captured 
and tlung thousands of living Yanars into his mouth, 
out of which some fortunate ones managed to escape, 
through his nostrils and ears. But formidable as he 
was, Kumbhakarna at length fell by a crescent-headed 
arrow from Rama's bow. 



11 Through skin and flesh and bone it smote, 

And rent asunder head and throat. 

Down, with the sound of thunder, rolled 

The head adorned with rings of gold, 

And crushed to pieces in its fall 

A gate, a tower, a massive wall. 

Hurled to the sea the body fell, 

Terrific was the ocean's swell, 

Nor could swift fin and nimble leap 

Save the crushed creatures of the deep." 

— Griffith (bk. vi., canto lxvii.). 

One memorable episode in this siege of Lanka was 
a night attack, planned and successfully carried out 
by Sugriva. Overpowering the guards, the Yanars 
entered the city, and, amidst the most terrible carn- 
age, gave beautiful and stately Lanka over to the 
flames : 

" As earth with fervent head will glow 
When comes her final overthrow ; 
From gate to gate, from court to spire, 
Proud Lanka was one blaze of fire, 
And every headland, rock and bay 
Shone bright a hundred leagues away ! " 

— GRIFFITH. 



68 THE BAMAYANA 

Succeeding this night attack came the final struggle. 
Kavana sallied forth from Lanka with a marvellous 
array of chariots, 1 elephants, horses, and men. He 
himself was the most formidable adversary yet en- 
countered by Eama, having in his time subjugated the 
Nagas, defeated the gods of heaven, and even success- 
fully invaded the land of departed spirits, ruled over 
by the dreaded Yama. During the battle that ensued, 
Indra, anxious, no doubt, to pay off old scores, sent his 
own chariot to Eama, who, mounted on it, encountered 
Kavana in single combat, and after a long contest 
killed his adversary with an arrow which had been 
made by Brahma himself. As the giant fell, celestial 
music filled the air,' perfumed breezes wandered pleas- 
antly over the field, and heavenly blossoms were rained 
down upon the conquering hero, the champion of the 
gods. •* 

With the death of Eavana the war was at an end, 
and Yibhishana was installed king in his place. Sita, 
so long and so ardently sought, was now brought 
forth in state from Lanka, borne in a screened 
litter on the shoulders of sturdy Eakshasas, to meet 
her victorious lord. The inquisitive Yanars pressed 
round to see Yaidehi, on whose account they had so 
often risked their lives ; but the attendants rudely 
drove them back. Eama, however, interposing, com- 
manded that the lady should descend from the litter 
and proceed on foot, unveiled, so that his Yanar 
friends might have a good look at her ; for, as he 
said : 



1 " The chariots of Bavaria's present army are said to have 
been one hundred and fifty million in number, with three 
hundred million elephants and twelve hundred million horses 
and asses. The footmen are merely said to have been un- 
numbered." — Note to Griffith's " Ramayana,'' book vi., canto 
xcvi. 



THE STORY 69 

11 At holy rites, in war and woe 
Her face unveiled a dame may show ; 
When at the maiden's choice they meet, 
When marriage troops parade the street. 
And she, my queen, who long has lain 
In prison, racked with care and pain, 
May cease awhile her face to hide, 
For is not Rama by her side ? " 



The meeting between Raina and his long-lost queen 
is a highly dramatic and unexpected scene. Instead 
of Rama folding his darling in his arms, as one might 
have expected he would have done, after all his piteous 
laments about her loss and his often expressed desire 
to possess his peerless wife once more, we find him 
coldly repulsing her, on the ground of her long cap- 
tivity in Ravana's power. More than that, he cruelly 
tells her that it was not love for her, but a desire to 
vindicate his outraged honour, that had brought him 
to Lanka. Quite unprepared for this undeserved and 
heartless reception, poor Vaidehi asks her husband 
most touchingly if the past is all forgotten, if her love 
and unfaltering devotion have quite faded from his 
memory ? And, waxing sadly indignant, she requests 
Lakshmana, in a voice broken with sobs, to prepare a 
funeral pile for her, the only refuge she had left to her 
in her dark despair. With Rama's tacit consent the 
pyre was erected and ignited. Boldly did the virtuous 
queen enter the flames, and as she fell overpowered 
by them a cry of grief rose from the bystanders. At 
this important moment a band of celestial beings, 
headed by Brahma himself, appeared before the as- 
sembled multitude and revealed to Rama his true 
nature, that he was Vishnu and no mortal man, while 
the god of fire raised Sita out of the flames, and, 
publicly attesting her purity, restored her to Rama, 
who now joyfully received her back to his heart and 



70 THE RAMAYANA 

home. Before the gods departed to their celestial 
abodes, Indra, at Kama's considerate request, restored 
to life all the Vanars who had fallen in his cause. 
Thus was the great war brought to a conclusion. 

Kama now proceeded to Ayodhya, carried aloft 
through the clouds, over sea and land, in the famous 
magic car Pushpak, already referred to. With the 
returning hero went Sita and Lakshmana, the Vanar 
chiefs and Vibhishana too. After a meeting with his 
brother Bharata, who came forth with joy to wel- 
come him back, Kama assumed the government of 
Dasahratha's kingdom, and reigned over it for ten 
thousand years. 1 

But his life and Sifca's had still more trouble in 
them. The people of Ayodhya mocked at Kama for 
taking back his wife, after she had been so long in 
the giant's power. They even attributed a famine 
which desolated the land to the anger of the gods on 
account of Kama's conduct. About to become a 
mother, Sita expressed a great desire to visit the 
forest hermitages of the saints. Her husband ac- 
corded his consent to her wishes, and directed Laksh- 
mana to conduct her thither. Unable to endure the 
jibes of his people, Kama resolved to abandon his 
innocent, unsuspecting wife, alone and unprotected, 
in the immense forests of Dandhaka, near the sources 
of the Godavari. The bitter duty was intrusted to 
Lakshmana, who, ever obedient, carried it out to the 
letter. Alas ! poor Yaidehi, such was the reward of 
her pure, unselfish love and devotion through many 
trying years of hardship and sorrow ! Cast adrift, 
alone in the pathless wilderness, Sita was found by 

1 At this point the great epic of Valmiki properly ends ; but 
a supplementary work, also popularly attributed to Valmiki, 
exists which affords further details of the lives of the principal 
personages of the poem. Upon the particulars supplied in this 
work the succeeding paragraphs are based. 



THE STORY 71 

the saint Yalroiki himself, and tenderly entertained 
by the holy women of the hermitage. Shortly after 
this she gave birth to twin sons, who were named 
Kusa and Lava. In his forest home, Yalmiki, under 
divine inspiration, composed the "Eamayana," and 
taught the sons of Sita to recite the immortal epic. 
On the occasion of a grand ceremony at Ayodhya, 
Kusa and Lava had the honour of reciting the great 
poem in the presence of their father, who, after in- 
quiry, acknowledged them as his sons, and invited 
Sita to come forward and assert her innocence 
publicly. 



" Bat Sita's heart was too full, this second ordeal was 
beyond even her power to submit to, and the poet rose 
above the ordinary Hindu level of women when he ventured 
to paint her conscious purity as rebelling. Beholding all 
the spectators, and clothed in red garments, Sita, clasping 
her hands, and bending low her face, spoke thus in a voice 
choked with tears : ' As I, even in mind, have never thought 
of any other person than Rama, so may Madhavi, the god- 
dess of earth, grant me a hiding-place.' As Sita made 
the oath, lo ! a marvel appeared. Suddenly cleaving the 
earth, a divine throne of marvellous beauty rose up, borne 
by resplendent dragons on their heads, and seated on it 
the goddess of earth, raising Sita with her arm, said to 
her, ' Welcome to thee,' and placed her by her side. And 
as the queen, seated on the throne, slowly descended to 
Hades, a continuous shower of flowers fell down from 
Heaven on her head." l 



1 Professor E. B. Cowell ("Academy," No. 43). In Bhava- 
bhuti's drama, entitled " Uttara Kama Charitra," the denouement 
is different. Sita's purity is attested by the goddess Ganga (the 
Ganges) and by Prithivi (the earth). The people bow in respect- 
ful homage to her. Kama welcomes her back, and with her 
two sons, Kusa and Lava, they pass many happy years to- 
gether. 



72 THE RAMAYANA 

Thus in sadness, and with the sting of injustice 
rankling in her heart, does the gentle Sita disappear 
for ever. 

In bidding farewell to Vaidehi we would notice that 
throughout this epic all the female characters are 
much more human than those of the opposite sex, 
and, in their genuine womanhood, they naturally 
interest us in a far greater degree than the heroes 
of the story, be they lofty demigods, cruel Eakshasas, 
volatile Vanars, or Eishis endowed with superhuman 
powers. 

We have yet to trace the further fortunes of the 
sons of Dasahratha. When Eama had reigned for a 
long period at Ayodhya, Time, as an ascetic, sought 
an interview with him, at which no one might intrude 
on pain of certain death. As messenger from Brahma, 
Time explained to Eama his real nature and position, 
leaving it to him to continue longer on earth or to 
return to heaven. During the interview an impatient 
Eishi desired immediate audience of Eama. Laksh- 
mana, who- knew the penalty of intruding upon him 
at this moment, raised some difficulties ; but the irate 
saint threatened to launch a curse against Eama and 
all his kinsfolk if he were not admitted to his presence 
forthwith. Lakshmana, dreading, for Eama's sake, 
the Eishi' s curse, interrupted his interview with Time 
and thereby incurred the penalty of death. Laksh- 
mana accordingly went to the river Surayu and was 
thence conveyed bodily to heaven. Eama, accom- 
panied by his brothers Bharata and Satrughna, and 
attended by the goddess of earth, also by all his 
iveapons in human shapes, the Vedas in the form of 
Brahmans, and his women and servants, proceeded to 
the Surayu and entered its waters. As he did so 
the voice of Brahma was heard from the sky, say- 
ing: "Approach, Vishnu, Eaghav, thou hast happily 
arrived with thy godlike brothers. Enter thine 



THE STORY 73 

own body as Vishnu or the eternal ether." He and 
his followers were then all of them translated to 
heaven. 1 

Such is the famous story of Kama and Sita. Or- 
dinary men and women are of little account and 
scarcely figure at all amongst the poet's creations. 
Nearly everything in the "Bamayana" is super- 
human. The dire conflicts which occupy so large a 
part of the epic are waged between demigods and 
fiends, or giants. The weapons employed are celestial, 
or perhaps only charmed. Mystic spells are of the 
greatest efficacy, and the results are proportionally 
great. 

In the war that raged around the walls of Ilium 
the gods did, certainly, interfere in the combats, and 
sometimes unfairly too ; they even attacked each other 
occasionally; but, notwithstanding the supernatural 
element, the Trojan war was still a war of men and 
heroes. Not so that which ensanguined the hills and 
plains of Lanka. 

The India of the " Kamayana " was covered with 
forests, and it is noteworthy that Eama's progress is 
traced rather from forest to forest than from city to 
city, which last were very few and far between. 

The hero of the tale is a very different one from 
those who figure in the Homeric poems. As a son 
he is most dutiful, pushing the idea of filial respect 
and obedience to the extreme, bearing no enmity even 
towards his designing stepmother. As a layman he 
is religious and unfeignedly respectful to Brahmans 
and saints. As a prince he is patriotic and benign ; 
as a warrior, skilful and fearless in the fight. As an 
elder brother, however, he is often somewhat exacting 
and inconsiderate, and as a husband his behaviour is, 
to say the least, disappointing. On the whole the 

1 Muir, " Sanskrit Texts," part iv., appendix. 



74 THE RAMAYANA 

prominent characteristic of this hero, limned by 
Brahman artists, is a spirit of mild self-sacrifice, as 
distinguished from bold self-assertion. 

The reader who has glanced through even the brief 
epitome of Valmiki's poem now presented will not 
have omitted to note the wealth of imagination dis- 
played by the author or authors, nor will he have 
failed to be charmed by many a beautiful picture and 
many an interesting situation. 



CHAPTER III 

THE RAM LILA OR PLAY OF RAMA 

Let us now see how the stirring events of this Indian 
epic are brought dramatically before nineteenth-cen- 
tury spectators. 

Days before the time fixed for the Dasahra festival, 
men, done up like monkeys and attended by drummers, 
may be seen in the bazaars collecting money for the 
fair, at which the more striking leading incidents of 
the epic are annually performed, part by part, in a 
rude pantomimic fashion. Sometimes the opening 
scene is a great marriage procession. One such, on 
an unusually large scale, was got up in Lahore in 
1884, at the expense of certain rich bankers. This 
motley and gigantic procession was made up of very 
heterogeneous elements. Several camels led the way ; 
some bulky elephants put in an appearance, and a 
great number of mounted men, on good cavalry horses, 
gave dignity to the procession. Three or four well- 
filled carriages, gaily decorated with tinsel, flowers 
and coloured cloths, had the honour of accommodating 
the friends of Rama. A few huge litters, each borne 
aloft on the shoulders of sixteen or twenty bearers, 
were conspicuous objects in the throng. On some of 
these sat men personating the gods and goddesses of 
India in all their grotesqueness ; on others squatted 
favourite female singers with their attendant minstrels, 
who delighted the audience with their grace and vocal 



76 THE RAMAYANA 

performances. Imitation artillery armed with ex- 
plosive bombs, dancers, mountebanks, musicians, and 
an innumerable crowd of ordinary citizens on foot, 
raised noise and dust enough to gratify the most 
pleasure-seeking Indian mob. The hero, Kama, and 
his inseparable brother, were dragged along on wooden 
horses, placed on a wheeled platform. There they sat, 
side by side, holding tiny bows and arrows in their 
hands, in a most ridiculous way, while the less im- 
portant mythological personages, divine or other, 
came along in carriages or litters. There was a 
painful want of organization about the procession, 
and the usual mixture of the sumptuous and tawdry, 
the rich and squalid, to which one is accustomed in 
India. 

A feature of the Dasahra festival is the number of 
men, disfigured with paint and ashes, who go about 
with iron skewers or pieces of cane passed through 
the skin of their arms, legs, sides, and throat, or even 
through the tongue. I once called up a party of these 
men and examined them. In answer to my remark, 
thrown out as a feeler, that the skewers had been 
passed through old perforations, the leader of the. 
party indignantly pulled a young man before me, 
pinched up a good bit of the skin of his forearm, and 
there and then passed a blunt iron needle through it, 
which could not have been much thinner than an 
ordinary lead pencil. No blood flowed, and certainly 
the man operated upon did not wince in the slightest 
degree. After this the leader of the party, having 
satisfied me that the skin of his own neck below the 
chin was perfectly sound, passed a skewer through 
it with his own hand. In both cases a tolerable 
amount of force was necessary to pass the iron through 
the skin, but no blood flowed. These men, who are 
looked upon with a sort of awe by the vulgar, assured 
me that they were protected from pain or injury by 




[To face j). 76. 

MEN WITH KNIVES AND SKEWERS PASSED THROUGH THEIR FLESH. 
(From a photograph by W. C. Oman.) 



THE RAM LILA OR PLAY OF RAMA 77 

a secret mantra of Guru Gorucknath's known only to 
themselves. They have probably learned, by the 
experience of many generations, safe places for the 
insertion of their skewers ; but I was told by a native 
medical man that serious consequences sometimes 
follow their senseless ill-treatment of their own per- 
sons. The present of a rupee sent these absurd 
fellows away apparently well satisfied. 

Near the temple of Vishnu, by Kattan Singh's Serai, 
arrangements had been made for a dramatic repre- 
sentation of Eama's famous history. When I first 
came upon the spot there were five or six hundred 
people assembled. The women and children, arrayed 
in their holiday best, crowded the roofs of the sur- 
rounding buildings to witness the performance and, 
with the gay red and yellow of their dresses and their 
tinkling anklets, gave colour and animation to the 
scene. Men and boys were below. Three merry-go- 
rounds of the kind patronized by the people, were in 
full operation, creaking hideously. 

Of the Earn Lila itself the only signs were two 
wooden horses, like those to be seen in European 
nurseries, only nearly life-size, standing, side by side, 
on a single wooden platform placed on wheels: They 
were painted white, with gaudy patches of red all 
over them. A few boys with monkey-masks on, 
capered about with switches in their hands. The 
crowd gradually increased, and the arrival of the per- 
formers was eagerly expected. But even yet some 
money-making bunniahs, surrounded by their pots 
and pans, their jars and other vessels, were busily 
plying their trade in oil, right in the midst of the 
assembling crowd ; while on one side several women 
kept diligently separating the chaff from the wheat 
and sending clouds of dust amongst the spectators. 
At length a great shout announced the arrival of 
Eama and Lakshmana, who were carried in a gaudy 



78 THE RAMAYANA 

litter on the shoulders of a number of men. This was 
the signal for the commencement of business. The 
crowd began to settle down. The central space was 
cleared. Kama and Lakshmana walked barefooted 
round the arena, showing themselves to the spectators. 
They were attired in yellow garments adorned with 
tinsel, and had on their heads high and much de- 
corated hats, which, I happened to learn subsequently, 
cost just three rupees each. Garlands of flowers en- 
circled their necks, and their hats were literally 
covered with floral wreaths. Their faces were thickly 
painted with w T hat looked like yellow tumeric, daubed 
over with some red powder, these pigments being, no 
doubt, considered most suitable for imparting beauty 
to an Indian complexion. The brothers carried small 
bows, like those usually placed in the hands of Cupids, 
and were attended by a man who vigorously waved a 
chowree over their heads. After this preliminary ex- 
hibition, during which several masked figures began 
to appear on the scene, a white-headed Brahman, 
book in hand (it was the Hindi version of Tulsi Das a ) 
began to instruct the performers in their several parts. 
Seated all together — demigods, monkeys, and Brahman 
— in the open space, before all the spectators, they 
learned the first act of the day's performance. In 
deference to their position, and probably also out of 
consideration for their fine clothes, Bama and his 
brother were made to sit on a white sheet, whilst the 
others squatted comfortably in the dust. When the 
actors had received their instructions, they proceeded 
to carry them out in a style which rendered it very 
difficult to comprehend what they actually meant to 
represent; but the Hindu spectators, familiar with 
the old tale and its usual dramatic rendering, seemed 

1 The "Kamayana" of Tulsi Das, which differs in some 
respects from the original poem of Valmiki, has been translated 
into English by Mr. F. J. Growse of the Bengal Civil Service. 



THE RAM LI LA OR PLAY OF RAMA 79 

to recognize at least the leading events which it was 
intended to bring before them. At the conclusion of 
the act, or scene, Rama and his brother, with the 
rest, came together again to receive their instructions 
from the old Brahman stage-manager, and, when duly 
instructed, again dispersed to perform their several 
parts in a more or less imperfect manner. One 
portion of the performance consisted in dragging the 
brothers round the arena on their wooden horses. 
The acting or pantomime was very rude, and the 
whole seemed childish in the extreme. But the old 
story, thus brought before them, was evidently as 
much appreciated by the spectators as it had been by 
their ancestors for fifty generations. And rude and 
childish though the performance might be, it was 
probably not more so than the Miracle Plays which 
delighted our forefathers in the Middle Ages. 

The dramatic representation extended over several 
days, the most popular scenes being the amputation 
of Surpanakha's nose and the abduction of Sita. The 
former, a mere rough and tumble performance, with- 
out anything striking or dramatic about it, was greeted 
with uproarious mirth by the spectators, and may, 
possibly, be the original suggestion and sanction of 
much of the female nose-cutting so commonly practised 
in India by jealous husbands. In the other scene 
Bavana appeared as a hermit. The supernatural doe 
was dragged about the arena. Bama and his brother 
were, of course, lured into pursuit of the deceiver and 
Sita, left alone, was carried off by Bavana. Jatayus, 
the vulture king, — represented by a huge paper bird 
carried about by a man hither and thither in a wild 
sort of way, — rushed to the rescue of the fair dame ; 
but after a brief, though fierce, struggle was hacked 
to pieces by the demon. After this lamentable en- 
counter, Sita, to the great grief of the onlookers, was 
carried away to Lanka. 



80 THE RAMAYANA 

The downfall of Lanka and final triumph of Rama 
are scenes of too great importance to be dealt with like 
the rest. For these, special preparations and as large 
a theatre as possible — some wide open plain for 
example — are requisite, as thousands gather to see 
Lanka and the demons given over to the flames. 

I select for description a favourable instance of the 
siege and destruction of Lanka which I witnessed at 
the military station of Meean Meer a few years ago. 
It was got up by the sepoys of some of the native 
regiments stationed there. 

Upon an open maidan or plain was assembled an 
eager crowd of spectators. A large space for the per- 
formance of the Earn Lila was kept clear by sepoys, 
placed as sentries at short intervals. About the centre 
of this space tow r ered two huge effigies, without legs, 
probably forty feet high, representing Havana and 
Kumbhakarna. Each figure stood with its arms ex- 
tended right and left, level with the shoulders, in the 
most absurd of attitudes,, resembling the pictures of 
men which young children are so fond of drawing. 
Eavana had ten faces, 1 and two arms with twenty 
hands, 2 while Kumbhakarna had two hands only. 
There they stood, the terrible demon king of Lanka, 
and his no less formidable brother, grotesqueness 
itself. At one side, opposite to and facing the figures, 
was a painted wooden car — lent by the king of the 
celestials to Eama on this memorable occasion — stand- 
ing on small wheels, like a child's toy, with two 
wooden horses attached to it. On the car were seated 
two handsome, bare-legged and bare-footed boys, 
dressed in yellow satin robes, with bows in their 
hands. Their hats somewhat resembled a bishop's 

1 Eavana is described as having ten beads ; but the effigy I 
saw had several faces, I do not think so many as ten, with the 
head of an ass surmounting all. 

2 Properly the figure should have had twenty arms. 



THE RAM LILA OR PLAY OF RAMA 81 

mitre in shape, and were made of red and silver 
materials. These boys, the reader does not need to be 
told, represented Eama and his brother Lakshmana. 
In attendance upon them were about thirty men, 
dressed in dusky red clothes, and with marks on their 
faces, who personated the army of monkeys that 
assisted the heroes. To the right of the two huge 
figures was an inclosed space which stood for the city 
or citadel of Lanka. Various mythological figures 
were also to be seen moving about the plain, in a 
more or less objectless manner. Two tall men, got 
up as women, went springing about, brandishing 
naked swords. They represented female Eakshasas. 
A man dressed up to look very corpulent, clothed in 
yellow, with long flowing hair and having serpents 
coiled round his throat, was dragged about upon a 
wooden bull over the field. This corpulent personage 
was no other than Mahadeva (Siva) on his bull 
(Nandi). Thus far the show was, at least, mytho- 
logical and Hindu. But, by a curious anachronism, 
the features of a modern fair mixed themselves up 
with the old-world representation. Perhaps Indian 
taste in this nineteenth century demanded something 
more than the undiluted ancient epic. Whatever may 
have been the cause, I observed, with surprise, that 
within the inclosure several natives with painted faces 
personated Europeans of both sexes, to the great 
amusement of the onlookers. A man in shaggy furs, 
holding a torn umbrella over his head, and attended 
by a fellow disguised as a European policeman, was 
announced to the spectators as the " Nawab of Cabul." 
There were also imitation bears with their leaders and 
such like grotesque shows for the amusement of the 
populace. Although the vast majority of the spec- 
tators were natives, many Europeans were present, 
some in their carriages, some on elephants, and one 
or two on camels. The scene, which was certainly 



82 THE RAMAYANA 

strange and picturesque, became especially lively 
when, towards the close of the proceedings, the ex- 
plosion of bombs and the discharge of rockets alarmed 
the horses and elephants. One huge beast, carrying 
a European gentleman and three ladies in a big 
howdah, was an object of interest and a cause of some 
anxiety to me, for his restive and erratic movements 
seemed to threaten destruction to me or to my carriage, 
at the least. 

The proceedings commenced by Eavana's car, 
wooden horses and all, being dragged by men round 
the inclosure attended by the monkeys. This was 
apparently a challenge to the enemy ; for during the 
second circumambulation a party of men, dressed in 
dark blue or black, who had hitherto been kept out of 
sight, sprang forward to oppose Kama's progress. 
These sable warriors were terrible Eakshasas, before 
whom Eama and his allies had to beat a retreat, pur- 
sued by the victors. Before long, however, the tide of 
battle seemed to turn. Victory changed sides ! The 
Eakshasas retreated, followed by Eama and his people. 
This alternate success of one party or the other was 
repeated several times, apparently to prolong the pro- 
ceedings, and was a most uninteresting and childish 
exhibition. Whenever Eama was advancing he was 
carried along discharging feeble arrows that rarely 
fell beyond the line of men yoked to his car. But 
when the hero was retreating before the enemy he was 
generally on foot, probably to obviate the necessity of 
his turning his back to his foes. At length the demi- 
gods made a furious and altogether successful on- 
slaught. The black warriors were supposed to have 
been completely exterminated. They lay stretched on 
the field dead and dying for a minute or two, and then, 
in the most inconsistent manner, got up and squatted 
on the grass to watch the further proceedings. When 
Eavana's forces were thus destroyed, a number of 



THE RAM LILA OR PLAY OF RAMA 83 

fireworks -were lighted all over the field. Then the 
fort of Lanka was given over to the flames, and as it 
was well filled with fireworks it made a brilliant dis- 
play. Next perished Kumbhakarna, similarly in a 
blaze of rockets, and amidst the thunder of exploding 
bombs. And last of all, the gigantic Havana disap- 
peared, by what to any bystander would seem a pro- 
cess of spontaneous combustion. All the time the 
drama lasted a regimental brass band played European 
music ; so that Kama's forces may be said to have 
been animated to the assault of Lanka by the soul- 
stirring music of European composers. 

This was all ! Sita the patient, faithful, loving wife 
was never brought forward. The woman's part was a 
quite subordinate one and was left to the imagination 
of the spectators. The conquering Eama was every- 
thing ; the long-suffering Sita was forgotten on this 
occasion. However, the gentle wife of Eama has a 
place of her own in the affectionate regard of the 
people of her native land and her history is well re- 
membered. I have seen a picture of the car in which 
Sita was abducted tattooed on the arm of an ignorant 
woman of the lower classes, and found on inquiry that 
she knew the old old story well. 

The Ram Lila I have just described was a par- 
ticularly good example of the annual celebration. 
Ordinarily, huge figures, stuffed with straw, represent 
the demons. Kama and Lakshmana, seated on a 
stage, are carried about on the shoulders of men and, 
after traversing the ground, hither and thither, with- 
out any apparent object, at length set fire to the 
effigies, whose combustion concludes the play, if such 
it can be called ; whereupon the crowds assembled to 
see the sport depart in clouds of dust and smoke. 
Often several sets of demons and Eamas may be seen 
on the same field, got up by rival parties, by different 
sections of a city, or by separate villages. 



84 THE RAMAYAXA 

It appears that there is some difficulty in getting 
boys to personate Rama and his brother on the occasion 
of the Earn Lila festival, as it is the popular belief that 
they never live to attain manhood. 1 There is also 
another, if less superstitious reason for the difficulty 
in question, and it is this : At the close of the festival 
Eama and Lakshmana have to feast the Brahmans, 
and that involves no inconsiderable outlay of money. 
Hence, in the somewhat lawless border districts on 
the Indus, it is the usual thing for the sons of well- 
to-do persons to be actually kidnapped and carried 
off to play Eama and Lakshmana at the annual 
festival. 

For ten days during the feast they are believed to 
be literally possessed by the god and are worshipped 
as Vishnu. But the worship of these boys creates, I 
was told, a curious and interesting difficulty about the 
selection of Eama and Lakshmana. The two heroes 
were men of the warrior caste, and so should their 
modern representatives be, but, as they have divine 
honours paid to them during the festival, it would not 
suit the Brahmans to bow down to and touch the feet 
of youths of inferior caste, while even personating 
demigods, and so, in defiance of history, Brahman 
youths are generally selected to represent the Kshatriya 
heroes in the Earn Lila. 

What the Indian artist's conception of the form and 
appearance of Eama is, may be partially understood 
from the statuettes in stone made at the present day 
and frequently to be met with, at least in Northern 
India. They are usually sculptured in white marble, 

1 Bishop Heber was told that, in the good old times, the poor 
children were always "poisoned in the sweetmeats given to 
them the last day of the show, that it might be said their spirits 
were absorbed into the deities whom they had represented." — 
Hebee's "Narrative of a Journey through the Upper Provinces 
of India" (1824-25), p. 191. 



THE RAM LILA OR PLAY OF RAMA 85 

but painted (I may say enamelled) jet black, the only 
unblackened portion being the whites of the eyes. 
The eyebrows are gilded and so is the loin-cloth or 
dhoty, which is the only piece of clothing on the 
person of the god-man. Two big ornaments, shaped 
like stumpy reels, fill big holes in the lobes of the 
ears, and make them stick out on either side. On 
the forehead is the Vishnu caste-mark, the central 
line in red, and the two side lines, diverging from 
the top of the nose, in gold. These figures chiselled 
by the Indian sculptor are always stiff and somewhat 
conventional. 

The Dasahra festival of Northern India is replaced 
in Bengal by the Durga Puja, and consequently the 
Bengalees do not perform the Piam Lila; but I re- 
member to have seen, years ago, in Bengal, a large 
collection of colossal groups of figures representing 
favourite incidents in the "Mahabharata" and "Kama- 
yana," prepared at the expense of the Maharajah of 
Burdwan, to which show, an annual one, I believe, the 
public were freely admitted. The grotesque forms of 
the monsters of the Indian epics were reproduced in 
huge clay statues, variously coloured and clothed. 
Some, armed with the strange weapons which the 
poets had imagined, were engaged in deadly combat. 
Gigantic arrows were conspicuous, and some of them, 
with the aid of thread supports, were shown in the air 
on their way to some ill-fated warrior or other. More 
peaceful scenes were also represented, as where Kavana, 
in the disguise of a Brahman, visits Sita in the forest. 
Various holy hermits were also there in all the re- 
pulsiveness of dirt and emaciation. The figures were 
coloured yellow, blue, green, brown, or black, accord- 
ing to the text of the poet, the conventional notions of 
the people, or the taste and fancy of the artists. 
Some of these clay statues were decidedly well modelled. 
They had real hair on their heads, faces and breasts ; 



86 THE RAMAYANA 

they were clothed in cotton fabrics, according to the 
not very elaborate fashions of the country, and, in 
some cases, were by no means unartistic representations 
of the men, demons and demigods of the sacred epics 
of India. 



APPENDIX 

The Story of the Descent of Ganga (the Ganges, 



In ancient times lived Sangara, a virtuous king of 
Ayodhya. He had two wives but no children. Ashe 
and his consorts longed for offspring, the three of them 
went to the Himalayas and practised austerities there. 
When they had been thus engaged for a hundred years, 
a Brahman ascetic of great power granted this boon to 
Sangara ; that one of his wives should give birth to a 
son who should perpetuate his race and the other 
should be the mother of sixty thousand manly and 
high-spirited sons. In due time the elder wife bore 
the promised son, who was named Asamanja, and the 
younger wife a gourd. From this gourd, when it burst 
open, came forth sixty thousand tiny sons, who were 
fostered, during their helpless infancy, by keeping 
them in jars filled with clarified butter. When his 
numerous sons had grown to man's estate the king, 
their father, determined to offer a horse-sacrifice. In 
accordance with this resolution a horse was, in the 
usual way, set free to wander where it listed, attended, 
for its protection, by mighty warriors of Sangara's 
army. 

Now it came to pass that one day Vasava, assuming 
the form of a Kakshasa, stole the horse away. The 
sixty thousand sons of the King of Ayodhya thereupon 



88 THE RAMAYAXA 

commenced, at their father's command, a diligent 
search for the missing animal. They scoured the 
world in vain for the stolen horse and then set about 
making a rigorous search in the bowels of the earth, 
digging downwards some sixty thousand yojanas. In 
these subterranean explorations they committed great 
havoc amongst the dwellers in the under-world ; but 
they persevered in their quest and presently, in the 
Southern Quarter, came upon a huge elephant re- 
sembling a hill. This colossal elephant, named Yeru- 
paksha, supported the entire earth upon his head and 
caused earthquakes whenever he happened to move his 
head from fatigue. Going round this mighty beast, 
the sons of Sangara continued their search in the 
interior of the earth. They at last found the stolen 
horse and observed, quite close to it, " the eternal 
Yasudeva in the guise of Kapila," upon whom they 
rushed with blind but impotent fury ; for he, uttering 
a tremendous roar, instantly reduced them all to 
ashes. 

As the princes did not return home Sangara became 
alarmed for their safety and sent his grandson — Asa- 
manja's son — to look for tidings of them. This heroic 
prince, following the traces they had left of their 
eventful journey, at length reached the spot where the 
missing horse was detained and there discovered also 
the ashes of his sixty thousand uncles. Being piously 
desirous of making the usual oblations of water to the 
ashes of his deceased relatives, Asamanja's son looked 
about for water but could find none. However, he 
met, in these nether regions, Suparna, a maternal 
uncle of his, "resembling the wind," and from him he 
learned that the sixty thousand dead princes would be 
translated to heaven if only the waters of Ganga could 
be brought down from the celestial regions to lave 
their dust. 

Seeing there was nothing that he could do for the 



THE STORY OF THE DESCENT OF GANGA 89 

manes of his dead relatives, the young prince took the 
horse, and returning with it to Ayodhya helped to 
complete Sangara's sacrifice. 

Sangara himself died after a reign of thirty thousand 
years. Ancuroat, who succeeded him, practised rigid 
austerities, "on the romantic summit of Himavat," 
for thirty-two thousand years, and left the kingdom to 
Dilipa, whose constant thought was how he should 
bring Ganga down from heaven for the benefit of his 
dead ancestors ; but though he performed numerous 
sacrifices during his long reign of thirty thousand 
years, he made no progress in this matter. Dilipa' s 
son, Bhagiratha, earnestly devoted himself to the same 
object, and practised severe austerities with the view 
of obtaining the wished-for boon. " Eestraining his 
senses and eating once a month and surrounding him- 
self with five fires and with arms uplifted, he for a 
long lapse of time performed austerities at Gokara." 
Brahma, pleased with the king's asceticism, appeared 
before him and granted his wish, advising him, at the 
same time, to invoke the aid of Siva to accomplish it, 
as the earth would not be able to sustain the direct 
shock of the descent of Ganga from the celestial 
regions. 

To obtain the assistance of Siva, Bhagiratha spent 
a whole year in adoring that god, who at the end of 
that period was graciously pleased to say to the king : 
" foremost of men, I am well-pleased with thee. I 
will do what will be for thy welfare — I will hold the 
Mountain's daughter on my head." Upon this Ganga 
precipitated herself from the heavens upon Siva's head, 
arrogantly thinking to reach the earth without delay, 
but Siva, vexed by her proud thought, caused her to 
wander for many a year amongst the tangles of his 
long hair. It was only when Bhagiratha had recourse 
to fresh austerities that Siva "cast Ganga off in the 
direction of the Vindu lake," and she flowed in many 



90 THE RAM AY AN A 

channels over the joyful earth, to the delight and 
admiration of the celestials who witnessed her wonder- 
ful descent from the sky. 

Ganga, following the royal ascetic Bhagiratha, 
flooded with her waters the " sacrificial ground of the 
high-souled Jahna of wonderful deeds, as he was per- 
forming a sacrifice."" The saint drank up her waters 
in a rage. When this occurred the deities and Gand- 
harvas began to worship the angry Jahna, who, being 
propitiated by their attentions, allowed the river to 
flow off through his ears. Proceeding again in the 
wake of Bhagiratha' s chariot, Ganga, having reached 
the ocean, entered the under-world where the ashes of 
the sixty thousand sons of Sangara still lay. Her 
sanctifying waters flowed over their earthly remains 
and their spirits ascended to heaven. 

Such is the history of the most sacred river of the 
Hindus, into whose heaven-descended waters millions 
upon millions of men and women crowd annually to 
have their sins washed away. 



NOTES 

I. Antiquity of the " Ramayana." — Older than the 
"Raniayana" ascribed to Yalmiki is the "Ramasaga" itself, 
which exists as a Buddhist story, known as the " Dasah- 
rathajataka." This is substantially the history of Rama 
and Sita, with the important omission of the rape of Sita 
and the expedition against Lanka, which incidents the 
poet of the " Ramayana " is believed by Dr. Albrecht 
Weber to have borrowed from the Homeric legends. 1 If 
this conjecture be correct, the treatment of the incidents 
in question by Yalmiki is no slavish imitation of that of 
Homer. In the " Mahabharata " the story of Rama and 
Sita is narrated to Yudhisthira as an example, taken from 
the olden time, by way of consolation on a certain occasion, 
and agrees so closely with the work of Yalmiki that it 
certainly looks very much like an epitome of that work. 
In regard to the age of this epic, Sir Monier Williams 
says : " We cannot be far wrong in asserting that a great 
portion of the ' Ramayana/ if not the entire ' Ramayana,' 
before us, must have been current in India as early as the 
fifth century B.C." 2 

II. English versions of the " Ramayana." — The English 
reader desirous of learning more of the details of the 
" Ramayana " than is contained in this epitome, may con- 
sult the following works : (1) The excellent metrical version 
of Mr. Ralph Griffith, in five volumes ; (2) the prose trans- 

1 Vide " On the Ramayana," by Dr. Albrecht Weber (Triibner 
and Co., 1863). 

2 " Indian Epic Poetry," p. 3 (Williams and Norgate, London, 
1863). 



92 THE RAMAYANA 

lation now in course of publication by Babu Manmatha 
INath Dutt, M.A. ; (3) Mr. Talboys Wheeler's " History of 
India," vol. iii. ; and (4) The " E-amayana " of Tulsi Das, 
translated by Mr. F. T. Growse. 

III. The " Bamayana " only a natmre myth. — While one 
scholar finds history in the pages of the " Ramayana," and 
discovers in its interesting details a poetical version of the 
conquest of Southern India by the Aryans, another, with 
a turn for mythological interpretation, assures us that it is 
only a nature myth. "The whole story," he writes, "is 
clearly an account of how the full moon wanes and finally 
disappears from sight during the last fourteen days of the 
lunar month, which are the fourteen years of Rama and 
Sita's exile. Her final disappearance is represented by her 
rape by Ravana, and her rescue means the return of the 
new moon. In the course of the story the triumph of the 
dark night, lightened by the moon and stars, is further 
represented by the conquest of Vali, the god of tempests of 
the monkey race, who had obscured the stars." l 

1 "Early History of Northern India," by J. F. Hewitt, 
" Journal of the Koyal Asiatic Society," 1890, p. 744. 



PART II 

THE MAHABHAEATA 



THE MAHABHARATA 

CHAPTER I 

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS 

Standing on the beautiful fluted column of red sand- 
stone, known as the Kutub Minar, which towers loftily 
above the lifeless quietude of ancient Delhi, the eye 
surveys a landscape which embraces one of the most 
classic regions in Hindustan. 

Across the ruin-strewn plain, towards the lordly 
minarets and cupolas of modern Delhi, the spectator 
may note, just a little towards the east, the massive 
remains of the Poor ana killa, or old fort, which still 
preserves, in its traditionary name of Indrapat or 
Indraprasta, a suggestion of the glory it enjoyed some 
fifteen centuries before Christ. 

Not only in India and to the Hindus is the Indra- 
prasta a name of reverence ; for, away in distant 
Cambodia, the people believe that they are descended 
from colonists who immigrated into the southern 
peninsula from the far-off banks of the Jumna, and 
the stupendous remains of Angkor and Battambang, 
near the great lake of Toule-sap, point unmistakably 
to Hindu and Buddhist origin, and bear silent witness 
to the existence, in the remote past, of a powerful and 
flourishing kingdom of Indian origin. 1 

1 *' Nouvelle Geographie Universelle," par Elisee Eeclus, 
tome viii., p. 873, et seq. Keane's " Asia," pp. 678-680. 



96 THE MAHABHARATA 

Delhi, and the great plain north of it, are associated 
with the most stirring events in both the ancient and 
modern history of India, and have witnessed the most 
decisive struggles for empire which have occurred 
south of the Himalayas. 

Perhaps the " Mahabharata " was based on simple 
Aryan sagas like those of the Norsemen — historical 
traditions of deeds performed by gallant warriors to 
whose nervous hands the spear and axe were more 
familiar than the plough and the pen, 1 but, if so, the 
poets who have used the materials of the sagas of 
their ancestors to build up the great national epic, 
have been not too careful to preserve the strict 
accuracy of the traditions, and when the narrative of 
events is interrupted by long disquisitions and endless 
palavers, we discern unmistakably the hand of the 
Brahman compiler and his contribution to the record. 
We may, then, as well admit at once that little real 
history can be gleaned out of the one hundred thou- 
sand verses of the " Mahabharata." Yet a very great 
deal of valuable matter, that does not fall under the 
usual denomination of history, may be readily found 
in this voluminous epic, giving it a high value for all 
time. 

The authorship of the " Mahabharata " is ascribed 
to the sage Yyasa, or the compiler, and its production 
is, at least, as remarkable as that of the " Kamayana " 
already referred to. We are told in the introduction 
to the poem itself that, " The son of Satyavati (Yyasa) 
having by penance and meditation analyzed the eternal 
Veda afterwards compiled this holy history." When 
he had completed the vast epic, without, however, 

1 It is, I think, impossible, after reading the tedious genea- 
logies of the kings in the " Mahabharata," to avoid the con- 
clusion that there is a substratum of history beneath it all, 
notwithstanding the clouds of mythological dust which obscure 
the view. 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS 97 

committing any portion of it to writing, he began to 
consider how he could teach it to his disciples. Sym- 
pathizing with his desire to extend to others the 
benefits of this most sacred and interesting poem, 
Brahma, the Supreme Being, appeared before the 
saint. " And when Yyasa, surrounded by all the 
tribes of Munis, saw him, he was surprised; and 
standing with joined palms, he bowed and he ordered 
a seat to be brought. And Vyasa having gone round 
him, who is called Hiranyagarbha, seated on that dis- 
tinguished seat, stood near it, and, being commanded 
by Brahma Parameshti, he sat down near the seat full 
of affection and smiling in joy " (P. C. Boy). 1 After 
expressing his entire approval of the poem Yyasa had 
composed, the Supreme Being said : "Let Ganesa be 
thought of, Muni, for the purpose of writing the 
poem," and then " retired to his own abode." Ganesa, 
the god of wisdom, being invoked by Vyasa, repaired 
at once to his hermitage and consented to commit 
the wondrous tale to writing, provided his pen were 
not allowed to cease its work for a single moment. 
This condition was agreed to and observed. Thus 
was the " Mahabharata " recorded, as undying and 
infallible scripture, from the lips of its inspired bard. 

In respect of its importance and sanctity we need 
only cite the following passages from the poem itself. 
" There is not a story current in this world, but doth 
depend upon this history, even as the body upon the 
food that it taketh." 

"The study of the 'Bharata' is an act of piety. 
He that readeth even one foot believing hath his sins 
■entirely purged away." 

1 The " Mahabharata" of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, trans- 
lated into English prose, by Pratap Chundur Eoy (Calcutta, 
Bharata Press). If not otherwise stated, all prose quotations 
from the " Mahabharata " included in the following pages are 
derived from this work. 



98 THE MAHABHARATA 

" The man who with reverence daily listeneth to 
this sacred work acquireth long life and renown and 
ascendeth to heaven." 

" A Brahmana whatever sins he may commit during 
the day through his senses, is freed from them all by 
reading the ' Bharata ' in the evening. Whatever 
sins he may commit also in the night by deed, words, 
or mind, he is freed from them all by reading the 
* Bharata ' in the first twilight (morning)." 

What effects such beliefs were likely to have upon 
the morals of a people we do not stop to inquire. 

" Chaque peuple," says Prevost-Paradol, "a dans 
son histoire un grand fait, auquel il rattache tout son 
passe et tout son avenir, et dont la memoire est un 
mot de ralliement, une promesse de salut. La fuite 
d'Egypte, disaient les Juifs ; le renversement des 
Medes, disaient les Per ses; lesguerres Mediques, disent 
a leur tour les Grecs. On les rappellera a tout propos 
pour en tirer des arguments, des pretentions poli- 
tiques, des mouvements oratoires, des encouragements 
patriotiques dans les grandes crises, et plus tard, les 
regrets eternels." l 

For the Indian people it is the great war ending 
with Kurukshetra, which is the central event of their 
history. It closes for them their golden age. Before 
that was a world of transcendent knowledge and heroic 
deeds ; since then intellectual decay and physical 
degeneracy. Nor is this merely a sentiment, it is a 

1 "Every race has in its history one grand achievement on 
which it hangs all its past and all its future : and the memory 
of which is a rallying cry and a pledge of prosperity. The 
Exodus, the Jews would say ; the overthrow of the Medes, 
would the Persians ; the Median wars, the Greeks in their turn 
say. These will be recalled on all occasions to furnish argu- 
ments, political claims, rhetorical effects, patriotic encouragement 
in great crise?, and in the end imperishable regrets." — Essai sur 
Vhistoire universeUe, par M. Prevost-Paradol, tome premier, 
p. 166. 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS 99 

deeply-rooted belief, which the highly-educated Indian 
holds in common with his ignorant countryman. I 
have known an educated Hindu to maintain with 
much warmth that in the golden age the Kishis and 
others were well acquainted with the art of aerial 
navigation, and probably with other rapid modes of 
locomotion unknown to us moderns. I have heard 
him assert boldly that even the telephone, micro- 
phone, and phonograph had been known to the Hindu 
sages up to the time when the sciences and arts of the 
ancient world perished, wholesale and for ever, with 
the heroes of the " Mahabharata " on the fatal field 
of Kurukshetra. However little one might be dis- 
posed to import such romantic statements into a sober 
history of science, they are, at any rate, true as 
regards the non-existence of anything like even the 
germs of progressive science among the people of 
India from a very remote date up to the present 
time. 

Of the one hundred thousand verses of the " Maha- 
bharata " not more than a fourth part is concerned 
with the main story of the epic — the rest consists of 
more or less irrelevant, though often beautiful episodes, 
and of disquisitions on government, morals and theo- 
logy. It is the main story that I have endeavoured to 
reproduce in brief outline in this volume, and I have 
also attempted to preserve, as far as possible, the 
important doctrinal features of the great epic. 



L.gSC 



CHAPTEE II 

THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 

Amongst the long line of kings descended from 
Chandra, the Moon, who reigned in Northern India, 
was Shantanu, with whom our narrative may con- 
veniently commence. This king was, like most of the 
sovereigns of his house, a pious man and an able ad- 
ministrator, whose sway, we are told, was owned by 
the whole ivorld. He had two wives in succession, first 
the goddess Ganga, afterwards Satyavati, and the 
story of his loves is worth recordingT 

Strange as it may seem, his marriage with the 
lovely Ganga, the divinity of the sacred river Ganges, 
resulted from a curse uttered by one of those terrible 
saints, so common in Indian poetry, whose irritability 
of temper seems to have been in direct proportion to 
the importance of their austerities. The saint in 
question, Yasishta by name, was once engaged in his 
devotions when a party of celestial beings, known as 
Vasus, unwittingly passed between him and the rising 
or setting sun. " Be born among men ! " exclaimed 
the irate Eishi to the unwelcome intruders, and his 
malediction, once uttered was, of course, irrevocable. 1 
Expelled from Heaven, these unfortunate Vasus were 
met by the goddess Ganga to whom they explained 

1 " Adi Parva," of the " Mahabharata," section xcvi. A some- 
what different story is told in section xcix. 



102 THE MAHABHARATA 

their sad destiny, imploring of her to become a woman, 
so that they might be born of her and not of a mere 
mortal. The goddess who, on account of a slight in- 
discretion on her part, was herself under the obligation 
of assuming the human form, agreed to their proposal, 
and made choice of Shantanu to be their father. The 
goddess promised the Yasus that as each one of them 
was born of her, he should be thrown, as a mere infant, 
into the water and destroyed, so that all might regain 
their celestial home as speedily as possible. But Ganga 
stipulated that each one of the Vasus should contribute 
an eighth part of his energy for the production of a 
son who should be allowed to live his life on earth, 
but should himself die childless. These preliminaries 
being settled amongst the gods, behind the scenes as it 
were, the play had to be played out on the terrestrial 
stage with men as the puppets. To this end Ganga 
took an opportunity of presenting herself before 
Shantanu for the purpose of captivating his heart, — 
no difficult task for the goddess. So, one day as he 
was wandering along the banks of the Ganges, " he 
saw a lovely maiden of blazing beauty and like unto 
another Sree herself. Of faultless and pearly teeth 
and decked with celestial ornaments, she was attired 
in garments of fine texture, and resembled in splendour 
the filaments of the lotus. And the monarch behold- 
ing that damsel became surprised. With steadfast 
gaze he seemed to be drinking her charms, but repeated 
draughts failed to quench his thirst. The damsel also 
beholding the monarch of blazing splendour moving 
about in great agitation, was moved herself, and 
experienced an affection for him. She gazed and 
gazed and longed to gaze at him evermore. The 
monarch then in soft words addressed her and said : 
' thou slender-waisted one, beest thou a goddess or 
the daughter of a Danava, beest thou of the race of 
the Gandharvas, or Apsaras, beest thou of the Yakshas 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 103 

or of the Nagas or beest thou of human origin, thou 
of celestial beauty, I solicit thee to be my wife.' " 

This wooing, simple enough in form and very much 
to the point, was, we need not'say, entirely successful ; 
the goddess without revealing her identity, consenting 
at once to become the king's wife, on condition that 
she should be free to leave him the moment he 
interfered with her actions or addressed an unkind 
word to her. The enamoured prince readily agreed to 
these terms, and Ganga became his wife. Seven 
beautiful children born of this union were, to the 
king's intense horror, thrown by their mother, each 
in its turn, into the waters of the Ganges with the 
words " This is for thy good." Shantanu's dread of 
losing the companionship of his lovely wife, of whom 
he was dotingly fond, kept him tongue-tied even in 
presence of such enormities ; but when the eighth 
child was about to be destroyed like the others, his 
paternal feelings could not be controlled, and he broke 
out in remonstrance and upbraidings which saved his 
son's life, but lost him his wife's society for ever. 
Ganga, with much dignity, revealed herself to the 
king, explained to him the real circumstances of the 
case, and the motives which had influenced her 
actions and, reminding him of the stipulations of 
the contract between them, took a kind but final 
farewell of the husband of so many years. She 
thereupon disappeared, carrying the child away with 
her. 

Later on, the river-goddess appeared once more to 
King Shantanu, and made over to him his half-celestial 
son, a youth of the most wonderful intellect, learning, 
strength and daring. This son, indifferently named 
Ganga-datta and Deva-bratta, was eventually best 
known as Bhisma, or the terrible, for a reason to be 
explained immediately. 

In the foregoing legend about the incarnations of 



104 THE MAHABHARATA 

the Vasus, we have an instructive and interesting 
illustration of the ideas of the Hindus with respect to 
the soul in man, which, as in this case, might be a 
spirit from the celestial regions. We also learn how 
the poor mortal's destiny on earth is but the fulfil- 
ment of predestined events. 

Shantanu, deserted by the goddess- queen, seems to 
have had a heart ready for the reception of another 
love, and, as his romantic fortune would have it, he 
was one day rambling on the banks of the Jumna when 
his attention was attracted by a delicious perfume. 
To trace this fragrance to its source the king roamed 
hither and thither through the woods, ■" and, in the 
course of his rambles, he beheld a black- eyed maiden 
of celestial beauty, the daughter of a fisherman." In 
those primitive times, when men carried their hearts 
on their sleeves and the forms of social life were 
simple and natural, no tedious courtship was neces- 
sary ; so, "the king addressing her said: 'Who art 
thou, and whose daughter ? What dost thou do here, 
timid one ? ' She answered, ' Blest be thou, I am 
the daughter of the chief of the fishermen. At his 
command for religious merit I am engaged in rowing 
the passengers across this river in my boat.' And 
Shantanu beholding that maiden of celestial form 
endued with beauty, amiableness and such fragrance, 
desired her for wife. And repairing unto her father 
the king solicited his consent to the proposed match." 

The fisherman was willing to bestow his daughter 
on the king, but only on condition that the son born 
to her should occupy the throne to the exclusion of all 
others. This was a difficulty that staggered the king, 
for he could not find it in his heart to set aside 
Deva-bratta, the glorious son of Ganga. The matter 
accordingly dropped, but his disappointment was very 
great, and he could not conceal from the world that 
there was something preying upon his mind. Deva- 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 105 

bratta, being much concerned about Shantanu's un- 
happiness, found out the cause of it, and going to 
the father of the sweet-scented maiden, Satyavati, he 
formally renounced his own right to the succession, 
and recorded a vow of perpetual celibacy. 

Upon this " the Apsaras and the gods with the 
tribes of the Eishis began to rain down flowers from 
the firmament upon the head of Deva-bratta, and ex- 
claimed ' This one is Bhisma ' (the terrible)." 

Everything was now arranged to the satisfaction of 
the contracting parties, and Satyavati, the ferry-girl, 
became the proud queen of Bharatvarsha. But this 
beauteous and odoriferous damsel had already a his- 
tory, which, though unknown to the king her husband, 
may be unfolded here. 

In the discharge of her pious office of ferrying 
across the Jumna those who desired it, the maiden on 
one occasion had as her companion in the boat " the 
great and wise Kishi Parashara, foremost of all vir- 
tuous men." This illustrious saint, who seems to 
have had an eye for a pretty wench, immediately 
made advances to the boat-girl. Dread of her father, 
and a natural disinclination of being seen from the 
shore, made Satyavati coy ; but, on the other hand, 
she was also in terror of the Bishi's curse, in case she 
disobliged him. The sage Parashara was not to be 
denied. He enveloped the boat in a mist, and, pro- 
mising the boat-girl that her virginity should be re- 
stored, and that a certain fishy smell which emanated 
from her person should be changed into a sweet 
perfume, had his way with her. The offspring of 
this union was no other than the renowned Vyasa, 
who arranged the Vedas and wrote the "MarTalxfrar- 
ata," and of whom we shall hear more very soon. 

Satyavati by her union with King Shantanu be- 
came the mother of two sons, Chitrangada and Vichi- 
tra-virya. The former was after a short reign killed, 



106 THE MAHABIIARATA 

in a three years' combat, by the King of the Gand- 
harvas, and Vichitra-virya was placed on the throne ; 
but being a minor the kingdom was ruled by Bhisma, 
in subordination to Queen Satyavati. When the king 
was old enough to be married Bhisma set about 
finding a wife for him. Learning that the three lovely 
daughters of the King of Kasi would elect husbands in 
a public swayajjwara, or maiden's choice, he repaired 
thither and, acting in accordance with the lawless 
customs of the times, carried the fair princesses off 
in his chariot, challenging anyone and everyone to 
fight him for the coveted prize. A desperate battle 
ensued, of the kind familiar to the reader of the 
previous portion of this volume. Bhisma, alone and 
unaided, assailed by ten thousand arrows at the same 
time, was able to check these missiles in mid-air by 
showers of innumerable darts from his own bow, and 
after prodigious slaughter effected the object he had 
in view. 1 Of the three captured princesses one, named 
Amba, was allowed to go back to her people, as she 
explained that she had fully made up her mind to 

1 The battle, as described by the poet, is of little interest; 
but Bhisma's challenge to the assembled kings is worthy of 
reproduction, as throwing light upon the marriage customs of the 
olden time in India. " In a voice like the roar of the clouds he 
exclaimed : ' The wise have directed that after inviting an ac- 
complished person a maiden may be bestowed on him, decked 
in ornaments and along with many valuable presents. Others 
again may bestow their daughters by accepting of a couple of 
kine, some again bestow their daughters by taking a fixed sum, 
and some take away maidens by force. Some wed with the 
consent of the maidens, some by drugging them into consent, 
and some by going unto the maidens' parents and obtaining 
their sanction. Some again obtain wives as presents for assisting 
at sacrifices. Of these the learned always applaud the eighth 
form of marriage. Kings, however, speak highly of the swayam- 
vara (the fifth form as above) and themselves wed according to 
•it. But the sages have said that that wife is dearly to be prized, 
who is taken away by force, after slaughter of opponents, from 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 107 

elect the King of Sanva for her husband, that he had 
given her his heart, and that her father was willing. 
The Rajah, however, coldly rejected Arnba, on the 
ground that she had been in another man's house ; 
so, after undergoing painful austerities, with the 
object of being avenged for the humiliations she had 
suffered, the unhappy princess immolated herself on 
the funeral pile. In her case the swayamvara was, it 
would appear, only intended to be a formal ceremony. 
The other two princesses became the wives of Vichitra- 
virya ; but, after a short reign, he died, leaving be- 
hind him no heirs of his body. 

This failure of issue threatened the extinction of 
the Lunar dynasty. But, according to the ideas of 
those primitive times, the deficiency of heirs might 
still be supplied, for Yichitra-virya's two widows, 
Amvika and Amvalika, still survived, and some kins- 
man might raise up seed to the dead man. Queen 
Satyavati pressed Bhisma to undertake the duty, 
but he, unwittingly fulfilling his destiny, held his 
vow of celibacy too sacred to be broken even in such 
a dynastic emergency. On his refusal Satyavati 
thought of her son Vyasa as perpetuator of the Lunar 
race, and the sage, nothing loth, undertook the family 
duty and visited the widows in turn. Now this cele- 
brated sage had, by reason of his austerities, a terrible 
and repulsive appearance. The elder widow, Amvika, 
shut her eyes when she saw him, as he approached in 
the lamplight, and the son born of her was, in conse- 
quence, blind. The other widow was so blanched 
with fear at the sight of the sage, that the son she 
gave birth to was of quite a pale complexion. The 

amid the concourse of princes and kings invited to a swayamvara. 
Therefore, ye monarchs, I bear away these maidens from hence 
by force. Strive ye to the best of your might to vanquish me or 
be vanquished.' " — P. C. Roy's translation of the " Adi Parva" 
of the "Mahabharata," p. 307. 



108 THE MAHABHARATA 

blind son was named Dhritarashtra, and the white 
one Pandu. 1 

Neither of these sons being perfect, Satyavati de- 
sired Vyasa to beget yet another son. For this pur- 
pose he was to visit Amvika again; but she, poor 
soul, had had enough of the wild-looking anchorite, 
whose grim visage and strong odour had made a deep 
and disagreeable impression upon her, so she sent a 
beautiful slave-girl to him in her stead. The Sudra 
maiden made herself agreeable to the sage who was, 
of course, too wise to be taken in by the attempted 
deception. "And when he rose up to go away he 
addressed her and said ' Amiable one, thou shalt no 
longer be a slave. Thy child also shall be greatly 
fortunate and virtuous and the foremost of all intel- 
ligent men on earth.' " This third son of Vyasa was 
named Vidura, and, although the offspring of a Sudra 
wench was, it seems, no other than the god of justice 
himself, incarnate in human form, owing, as we might 
well guess, to the potent curse of a holy ascetic. This 
is how it came about. The ascetic was performing 
his penances under a vow of silence, when there came 
to his asylum a band of robbers fleeing from the 
officers of justice. They hid their booty and them- 
selves in the asylum. The police officers who were 
on their track came to the asylum and requested the 
hermit to point out where the thieves had hidden 
themselves. The ascetic vouchsafed no answer, but 
the officers themselves soon found both the thieves 
and the stolen property. As an accomplice in the 
crime that had been committed, the ascetic was ap- 
prehended and sentenced to death. He was in due 
course impaled, but, even on the cruel stake which 
was rending his body, he serenely devoted himself to 
contemplation. For days he lived quietly upon the 

1 The custom referred to in this paragraph and known as 
niyoga, is considered briefly in the concluding chapter. 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 109 

stake, a fact which was brought to the king's know- 
ledge, and greatly alarmed him. He came in person 
to the ascetic, addressed him with great humility, 
begged his forgiveness, and ordered his immediate 
removal from the stake. All attempts to extract the 
stake having failed, it was cut off at the surface of 
the body, and the ascetic, apparently none the worse 
for this addition to his internal economy, went about 
as usual, but he was by no means content. Of the 
god of justice he demanded what crime he had com- 
mitted which entailed so heavy a punishment. The 
god explained that the ascetic had once in his child- 
hood pierced a little insect with a blade of grass, 
hence his impalement. In the Eishi's opinion the 
punishment was out of all proportion to the offence, 
particularly as the Shastras exempted children from 
responsibility for their actions, and, waxing wroth, 
he uttered the following imprecation : " Thou shalt, 
therefore, god of justice, have to be born among 
men even in the Sudra order." x 

Dhritarashtra was set aside on account of his blind- 
ness, and Yidura on account of his servile birth, so 
the raj fell to Pandu, during whose minority the 
country was governed by his uncle, Bhisma. 2 

Pandu became a great and celebrated rajah. He 
had two wives, Kunti and Madri. The former, 
although very beautiful, had no suitors in her maiden- 
hood ; so the king, her father, invited to his court the 
princes and monarchs of the neighbouring countries, 

1 P. C. Eoy's " Adi Parva," p. 325. This story throws con- 
siderable light on the ideas of the Hindus with respect to their 
gods. 

2 Vyasa, as we have seen, was no blood relation of the house 
of Bbarata. Similarly, the widows of King Vichitra-virya and 
the Sudra slave-girl were not connected to the family by ties 
of consanguinity ; and yet the children of Vyasa by these women 
are, from the Hindu point of view, lineal descendants of King 
Shantanu. 



110 THE MAHABHARATA 

and desired Kunti to choose her husband from amongst 
his guests. The princess attracted by the appearance 
of Pandu who was there, approached him modestly, 
and " quivering with emotion," as the poet tells us, 
placed the nuptial garland round his neck. In this 
romantic fashion Pandu got his first wife. For the 
second, Madri, who was selected for him by Bhisma, 
he had to pay a very considerable price in gold and 
precious stones, elephants, horses and other things ; 
for, it seems, it was the custom in her family for the 
daughters to be disposed of for such price as could be 
got for them. 

After he had reigned a while, Pandu retired with 
his two wives into the forests on the slopes of the 
Himalaya Mountains to indulge his love of freedom 
and the chase. 

One day while out hunting he discharged his arrows 
at two deer sporting together. Now these, as ill luck 
would have it, were, in reality, a Brahman sage and 
his wife. In the agonies of death the Brahman 
assumed his proper form and, as we might expect, 
cursed the unfortunate Pandu, saying that he would 
assuredly die in the embrace of one of his wives. 

Up to this time Pandu had had no children, and 
owing to his dread of the Brahman's curse was cut 
off from any further hope of offspring. Deeming it 
a most indispensable religious duty to have heirs, he 
consulted the ascetics in the woods on the subject, 
saying: "Ye ascetics I am not yet freed from the 
debt I owe to my (deceased) ancestors ! The best of 
men are born in this world to beget children for dis- 
charging that debt. I would ask ye, should children 
be begotten in my soil (upon my wives) as I myself 
was begotten in the soil of my father by the eminent 
Bishi?" 

The ascetics having given the king an answer in the 
affirmative, he desired his wife, Kunti, " to raise up 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 111 

offspring from the seed of some Brahman of high 
ascetic merit." But Kunti had another resource to 
fall back upon. It seems that in her maiden days she 
had pleased a Rishi by her attentions, and he had 
taught her, as a reward, a mantra, or spell, by the 
repetition of which she could cause any celestial being 
she thought of to present himself to her and be obedi- 
ent to her will, whether he liked it or not. Of the 
efficacy of this spell Kunti had already had practical 
experience, for in her early days she had, just to test 
the value of the spell, compelled the attendance of 
Surya, the sun-god, and had a son by him, named 
Kama, of whom we shall hear again. Prudently 
omitting any mention of Surya and Kama, Kunti told 
her husband of the mantra she possessed, and, with 
his consent, had three sons for him by three different 
gods, viz., Yudhisthira by Dharma, 1 Bhisma by Yayu, 
and x\rjuna by Indra. 

But Pandu wanted more sons, and persuaded Kunti 
to communicate the spell to Madri who, greedy of off- 
spring, summoned the twins Acwins to her bed, and 
gave birth in due course to two sons, Nakula and 
Sahadeva. These five sons, known as the five Pan- 
davas, are the real heroes of the great war which 
forms the main incident of the " Mahabharata." 

Pandu himself met with a tragic end. One day in 
lovely spring weather, when wandering with his 
younger wife, Madri, through the pleasant woodlands 
he, in a weak moment, yielded to his passions and, in 
fulfilment of the Brahman's curse, died in the arms of 
his wife, who, in testimony of her affection for her 
husband, and on the ground that she was his favourite 
wife, had herself burnt with his remains. 2 

1 This parentage is rather bewildering after what we have 
learned already about Vidura being no other than Dharina in 
human form. 

2 This is an instance of suttee in ancient India worth noting. 



112 THE MAHABHARATA 

The party opposed to the Pandavas, known as the 
Kauravas, consisted primarily of the one hundred sons 
of Dhritarashtra, by his wife Gandhari. Of course it 
was necessary that persons who had to play a leading 
part in the poet's story should come into the world in 
some extraordinary manner, and equally necessary 
that a Eishi should have a prominent share in the 
event. Gandhari appears to have been lucky enough 
to please by her hospitalities the great ascetic Dwai- 
payana, and he granted her the boon she asked, viz., 
one hundred sons, each equal to her lord in strength 
and accomplishments. Instead of sons, however, the 
queen gave birth to a shapeless mass of flesh and, in 
despair, was about to throw it away, when the sage 
who, in his hermitage, knew exactly what was tran- 
spiring at the palace, appeared unexpectedly on the 
scene and, cutting the piece of flesh into one hundred 
and one pieces, placed each separately in a pot full of 
clarified butter; whence, in due time, one hundred 
sons and one daughter were taken out. Of these 
hundred sons, four — Duryodhana, Dhusashana, Vi- 
karna, and Chittrasena — afterwards became prominent 
characters in the story of this epic. 

During the practical abdication of the throne by 
Pandu, Dhritarashtra seems to have ruled the country ; 
but Pandu' s so?is, as the Pandavas were considered to 
be, had a claim to the throne, and the surviving widow 
of the ill-fated king proceeded at once to Hastinapur 
with the five boys. A great number of ascetics ac- 
companied them and, having testified before Dhritar- 
ashtra and his court to the celestial parentage of these 
sons of Kunti and Madri, vanished into thin air before 
the eyes of all present. The young sons of Pandu 
were, after this, well received by the blind old king, 
and took up their abode w r ith his wife, Gandhari, and 
his sons. But the cousins, if such they can be called, 
could not live amicably together, and many feuds arose 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 113 

between them. To such a pass did the bitterness of 
feeling between the kinsmen come, that the eldest son 
of the blind king, jealous of the strength of Bhima, 
cunningly drugged him, bound him hand and foot, 
and then flung him into the Ganges. But Bhima did 
not perish. As he sank through the water snakes 
attacked him, and the venom of their bites, counter- 
acting the effects of the drug he had swallowed, re- 
stored him to consciousness. He immediately burst 
his bonds, and found that he had descended to the city 
of the Serpent-king in the interior of the earth, where 
he was hospitably entertained, and given a draught of 
nectar which endowed him with the strength of ten 
thousand elephants. After that he was carried by the 
Nagas from under the waters and restored to the place 
whence he had been thrown into the river. On his 
return to Hastinapur, Bhima related his adventures to 
his brothers, but was cautioned to say nothing about 
the matter in the presence of his cousins, so as not to 
awaken their suspicions. 

In accordance with the warlike tastes of the times, all 
the young princes, Dhritarashtra's sons and nephews 
alike, were trained to arms and instructed in the 
science of warfare by a famous Brahman preceptor, 
named Drona, on condition that they would fight for 
him against Draupada, Bajah of Panchala, with whom 
he had a feud of long standing. This Drona, it is 
needless to say, was of extraordinary origin, otherwise 
he would not have been preceptor to the princes. He 
was the son of a Bishi, named Bharadvaja, but was 
not born of woman. The Pandavas and their cousins 
had also another famous tutor, named Kripa, who had 
sprung into existence from a clump of heather. 

When the scions of the royal house of Pandu had 
been sufficiently trained in the use of arms, their pre- 
ceptor, Drona, arranged for an exhibition of their skill 
before the chiefs and people of the Baj. An auspicious 

i 



114 THE MAHABHARATA 

day was fixed upon, and the people informed by pro- 
clamation of the important function. It was a day of 
excitement and bustle in the land of the Kurus ; spec- 
tators flocked from far and near to witness the royal 
assault- at-arms. The wealthier part of the visitors 
pitched their tents near the arena, and others put up 
convenient stages from which to view the events of the 
day. For the king and his courtiers a theatre was 
erected " according to the rules laid down in the scrip- 
tures." It was constructed of gold, and adorned with 
strings of pearls and lapiz lazuli. The ladies had a 
separate gallery to themselves, and came to the fete 
gorgeously attired. 

Amidst the blare of trumpets and the sound of 
drums, Drona, all in white, his Brahmanical cord con- 
spicuously displayed, entered the arena attended by 
his son. The young princes followed in the order of 
their ages. After some preliminary displays of dex- 
terity in archery and fencing, and of skill in horseman- 
ship and the management of war-chariots, a contest 
with maces came off between Duryodhana and Bhima. 
They roared at each other " like two mad elephants 
contending for a female one," and what was meant to 
be a sham fight soon changed into a real combat. 
The princely competitors, actuated by mutual ani- 
mosity, charged each other ''like infuriated elephants," 
and battered each other most vindictively with their 
ponderous maces. This single combat caused great 
excitement amongst the spectators, who took sides, 
and applauded their favourites. Drona had to inter- 
pose between the heated combatants. He commanded 
the music to cease and, to make a diversion, quickly 
brought forward Arjuna, clad in golden mail, to dis- 
play his inimitable skill in bowmanship. In this art, 
the most important of the warlike arts in the India of 
those times, Arjuna hopelessly surpassed all his rivals 
and, indeed, besides the extraordinary skill he dis- 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 115 

played, there was much to wonder at in his perform- 
ances, for " by the Agneya weapon he created fire, and 
by the Varuna weapon he created water, and by the 
Vayavya weapon he created air, and by the Paryanya 
weapon he created clouds, and by the Bhanma weapon 
he created land, and by the Parvatya weapon moun- 
tains came into being. And by the Antardhyana 
weapon these were all made to disappear." 

When the exhibition was nearly over a formidable 
champion thundered at the gates of the arena. It 
was Kama, son of Kunti, already mentioned, and, as 
became the offspring of the sun-god, an archer of most 
wonderful skill. On being admitted, the tall and hand- 
some Kama, proudly arrayed in the glittering coat of 
mail in which he was born, and the ear-rings which 
had similarly come into the world with him, presented 
a dazzling and most striking appearance. He haughtily 
assured Arjuna that he would perform before the mul- 
titude there assembled feats that would excel all that 
had been exhibited that day. He even expressed his 
eagerness for a single combat with the hero. The two 
glorious sons of Kunti, unconscious of their relation- 
ship, appeared in the lists ; their respective fathers, 
Indra and Surya, anxiously watched events from their 
positions in the welkin, and Kunti, as became a fond 
mother, fainted away. At this juncture Kripa inter- 
posed, inquiring the race and lineage of the newcomer. 
This action on Kripa' s part was, apparently, only a 
device to avert the threatened fight. Duryodhana was 
furious at this interruption, and, to remove any objec- 
tion on the score of difference of rank between the 
contending parties, raised Kama on the spot to the 
Eajahship of Anga not, however, without the indis- 
pensable aid of the Brahmans, their mantras and cere- 
monies. All this took time; and more time was 
wasted in altercations in which Bhima took a pro- 
minent part, insulting Kama in an outrageous fashion, 



116 THE MAHABHARATA 

to the great indignation of Duryodhana. Presently 
the sun went down over the scene, and the royal 
tournament with its exciting incidents was necessarily 
brought to an end. 

The princes having thus publicly proved that they 
were capable of bearing arms, Drona called upon them 
to fulfil their part of the terms upon which he had 
educated them. Joint or common action amongst the 
cousins being out of the question, the Kauravas and 
their friends went forth alone and attacked the Eajah 
of Panchala. They were defeated and compelled to 
retreat. Then the Pandavas marched out against 
their tutor's enemy, and after a bloody conflict of the 
usual kind, — in which arrows fly from each single bow 
like flights of locusts; in which thousands of elephants, 
horses and men are slain ; in which the principal com- 
batants, although pierced with scores of shafts, seem 
none the worse for them — the Pandavas met with com- 
plete success, bringing the defeated Rajah along with 
them as a prisoner. He was afterwards liberated at 
the expense of half his kingdom, which was appro- 
priated by the successful Drona. 

Fresh causes of jealousy arose between the cousins. 
Yudhisthira's claim to the succession could not be set 
aside, as the people were all in favour of him ; so he 
was appointed by the blind king, very reluctantly, we 
may presume, to the office of Yuva-Eajah, or heir- 
apparent. The Pandavas, elated by their success 
against the King of Panchala, and confident in them- 
selves,, commenced a series of unprovoked attacks upon 
the neighbouring princes. Of course the Pandavas 
performed prodigies of valour in these invasions. For 
example, two of them with a single chariot, " sub- 
jugated all the kings of the East backed by ten thousand 
chariots." 

These great achievements inflamed the jealousy of 
even the blind king to such a pitch that he disclosed 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 117 

his feelings to Kanika, his Brahman counsellor, " well 
skilled in the science of politics." As became a sage 
politician, Kanika advised his master to put the 
obnoxious Pandavas out of the way as soon as possible. 
He explained to Dhritarashtra his obvious duty in such 
a case, and impressed upon his sovereign such im- 
portant maxims of state policy as the following: 
" When thy foe is in thy power destroy him by every 
means, open or secret : Do not show him any mercy 
although he seeketh thy protection. ... If thy son, 
friend, brother, father or even spiritual preceptor, 
becometh thy foe, thou shouldst, if desirous of pro- 
sperity, slay him without scruples. By curses and in- 
cantations, by gift of wealth, by poison, or by deception 
the foe should be slain. He should never be neglected 
from disdain." 

His counsels fell on only too willing ears. Dhritar- 
ashtra was ready to do his duty as thus explained to 
him, but thought it best to act warily. Duryodhana 
suggested that the Pandavas should be induced to go 
to Varanavartha, 1 and there be disposed of. 

Praises of this place were cunningly circulated in 
Dhritarashtra's court, and the king suggested to the 
Pandavas that they might go there for a holiday. 
Suspicions naturally arose in the minds of the sons of 
Pandu ; but there seemed to be no way of eluding the 
king's proposal. Their departure was a day of public 
mourning in Hastinapur, and, before they went, 
Vidura found an opportunity to warn them of a 
plot which had been formed to burn them to death in 
a house made of combustible materials, which would 
be erected for their reception at Varanavartha. To 
be forewarned was to be forearmed, and the Pandavas 
determined to be even with their enemies. Puro- 
chana, a confidential agent of Duryodhana's, preceded 

1 The modern Allahabad and, at that time, probably a frontier 
town of the Aryan invaders. 



118 THE MAHABHARATA 

them on their journey, and began in all haste to 
construct for their reception at Varanavartha and for 
their ultimate destruction by fire, the famous house of 
lac. What sort of mansion this was we may judge 
from Yudhisthira's opinion of it, expressed confidenti- 
ally to Bhima, after a critical inspection of the 
edifice, on their arrival at their destination. " The 
enemy, it is evident, by the aid of trusted artists, well 
skilled in the construction of houses, have finely built 
this mansion, after procuring hemp, resin, heath, 
straw and bamboos, all soaked in clarified butter." 

To escape destruction should their house be set on 
fire, the Pandavas secretly caused a subterranean 
passage to be made leading out of the dwelling. The 
work was executed by a trusty messenger, well skilled 
in mining, who had been sent to their assistance by 
Yidura. One evening Kunti fed a large number of 
Brahmans at this combustible house of hers. After 
the guests were gone, the Pandavas, assuring them- 
selves that their enemy, Purochana, was fast asleep, 
quietly fastened the doors of the house, and them- 
selves set fire to it in several places. As if impelled 
by Fate, a Nishada woman with her five sons had 
come, uninvited guests, to Kunti's feast, and, be- 
coming intoxicated with the wine of which they had 
partaken too freely, lay drunk upon the premises. 
These six drunk and incapable persons perished with 
Purochana, and their remains, found by the citizens 
after the conflagration had been extinguished, left no 
doubt in men's minds that Kunti and her sons had all 
been miserably burnt to death. 1 

1 " The traditional site of this event is in the Allahabad district, 
on the left bank of the Ganges, three miles south of Handia Taksil. 
The village of Lachagarh (Laksha=lac) is said to take its name 
from this event. It stands on the bank of the river, which is 
never cut away by the stream. This is said to be due to the 
melted lac which keeps the earth together. People come to 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 119 

The five Pandava brothers disguised as Brahmans, 
accompanied by their mother, Kunti, made their 
escape into the forests and commenced a long course 
of wanderings, in which they experienced much hard- 
ship and many adventures. Often were they wearied 
out by their long marches, all except the giant Bhima 
who, on such occasions, would carry the whole family 
on his back and shoulders or under his arms. Of this 
episode Bhima is indisputably the hero. It is he who 
forces his way by giant strength through the almost 
impenetrable forests, treading down trees and creepers 
to make a passage for himself and his burden. It is 
he who kills the terrible Kakshasa bent upon devour- 
ing Kunti and her sons. It is Bhima with whom 
the cannibal's sister falls ardently in love and whom, 
after strange adventurous journeys through the air, 
she eventually makes the happy father of a son, 
Ghatotkacha, afterwards a famous champion in the 
final struggles between the rival parties. It is Bhima 
again who, when they sojourned in Ekachakra (the 
inhabitants of which town had to pay a daily toll of a 
live human being for the table of a fierce Bakshasa), 
killed the monster single-handed, and delivered the 
trembling citizens from the gloomy horror under 
which they had been living. 1 

During their residence at Ekachakra, where they 
lived disguised as Brahmans, the Pandavas were 
visited by the famous Bishi Yyasa, who, it will be 
remembered, was really their grandfather, and also 
the compiler of the " Mahabharata " itself. By him 

bathe on the Somwati Arnawas when the new moon falls on a 
Monday. Jhusi or Pratishtapur, the capital of the Chandraransi 
Rajah is twenty-four miles from there." — North Indian Notes 
and Queries, August, 1894, p. 89. 

1 I don't think it is at all unlikely that cannibalism prevailed 
in India at this early period, as it does in Africa to-day, and 
these stories are only the Hindu bard's exaggerated way of 
recording the fact. 



120 THE MAHABHARATA 

they were informed that the lovely princess, Krishna, 
or Draupadi, the daughter of the King of the Panch- 
alas, was about to hold a swayamvara, or " self- 
choice," at which she would select a husband. Vyasa 
also told them the wonderful history of this Draupadi, 
and thereby greatly excited their interest and curiosity 
in the handsome maiden, who was no ordinary girl, 
but had sprung into existence, mature and beautiful, 
in the midst of a great sacrifice for offspring, offered 
by Draupada, King of the Panchalas. 

When, as has already been narrated, Draupada was 
defeated by Drona, and deprived by him of half his 
kingdom, a spirit of revenge took complete possession 
of the discomfited monarch, and his one thought was 
to find a means of compassing the overthrow of his 
successful foe, the redoubtable son of Bharadvaja. 
How could this object be attained when there was not 
a single one amongst the heroes of Panchala to cope 
with Drona, that mightiest of bowmen and possessor 
of the terrible Brahma-weapon ? In such a difficulty 
the Indian chieftain naturally built his hopes upon 
those great national resources — the assistance of potent 
Brahmans, and the efficacy of properly conducted 
sacrifices. For the handsome fee of ten thousand 
kine the king succeeded in inducing a couple of 
learned Brahmans, who had long been engaged in 
austerities, to undertake a sacrifice for the express 
purpose of obtaining a son who should be invincible in 
war and capable of slaying Drona. The result of the 
ceremonies and sacrifices conducted by the learned 
and not too scrupulous Brahmans was completely 
successful, for out of the sacrificial flames which they 
had kindled emerged a stately youth, encased in full 
armour, with a crown on his head, and bearing a bow 
and arrows in his hands. He was wonderful to behold, 
and appeared upon the scene uttering loud roars. 
This was Dhrista-dyumna. After him appeared a 



hi: story of the great war 121 

beautiful maiden. "Her eyes were black, and large 
as lotus leaves, her complexion was dark, and her 
locks were blue and curly. Her nails were beautifully 
convex and bright as burnished copper, her eyebrows 
were fair, and her bosom was deep. . . . Her body 
emitted a fragrance as that of a blue lotus, perceivable 
from a distance of full two miles." This damsel, 
because she was so dark complexioned, received the 
name of Krishna (the dark), but is more commonly 
known as Draupadi. Being the most lovely woman in 
the world at that time, her swayamvara would natur- 
ally attract the chiefs and princes of all nations, and 
not chiefs and princes only, but also Brahmans in 
crowds, ready to graciously accept the presents which 
the liberality or ostentation of the high-born suitors 
might prompt them to distribute on the occasion. 

The young Pandavas were much excited about the 
coming event, and set off without delay to witness 
and, if possible, to take part in the proceedings of 
lovely Draupadi's swayamvara. When they arrived 
at Panchala they took up their abode in the house 
of a humble potter, and, still disguised as Brah- 
mans, supported themselves by begging alms of the 
people. 

A great amphitheatre covered with a canopy was 
prepared for the important occasion. It was erected 
on a level plain, surrounded by lofty seven-storeyed 
palaces covered with gold, set with diamonds and 
adorned with garlands of fragrant flowers. In these 
costly mansions, " perfectly white and resembling the 
cloud-kissing peaks of Kailasa," were lodged the kings 
and princes who had been invited to the swayamvara 
by the father of Draupadi. Commodious platforms 
were constructed all round the amphitheatre for the 
convenience of less august visitors, and on one of 
these platforms the Pandavas found places for them- 
selves in the company of a number of Brahmans. Public 



122 THE MAHABHARATA 

rejoicings, music, dancing, and performances of various 
kinds, extending over sixteen days, served as a prelude 
to the business of the great assembly. At one end of 
the plain a tall pole was erected, and on the top of this 
pole was fixed a golden fish, and below the golden 
fish a chakra, or wheel, kept whirling round and 
round. The condition of the swayamvara was that 
each competitor should be provided with a particular 
bow and five selected arrows. If he succeeded with 
these in discharging an arrow through the chakra, 
and in striking the eye of the golden fish behind 
it, he should be the husband of the dark beauty of 
Panchala. 

On the sixteenth day, when the meeting-place was 
quite full, Draupadi entered the amphitheatre richly 
attired and adorned with ornaments. In her hands 
she carried a golden dish with the usual offerings to 
Agni, the god of fire, and a garland of flowers for the 
neck of the happy man who should win her in the 
competition. After the offerings had been cast into 
the sacrificial fire and the appropriate mantras recited 
by the Brahmans appointed to perform the duty, 
Dhrista-dyumna led his sister before the assembly and, 
in a loud voice, proclaimed the conditions of the 
competition. 

Amongst the innumerable suitors present there, we 
need only mention Duryodhana and Kama, who are 
already known to the reader. 

The sight of the beautiful Draupadi fired the ardour 
of the assembled princes. One after the other they 
came forward to essay the feat but, though they 
tugged and strained and sweated till their faces were 
distorted and their clothes disordered, they were not 
even able to string the mighty bow. Kama at length 
stepped up and stringing the bow with ease placed an 
arrow for the trial. But seeing Kama, Draupadi 
loudly exclaimed : "I will not elect a Suta for my 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 123 

lord." 1 "Then Kama, laughing in vexation and 
casting a glance on the sun, threw aside the bow 
already drawn to a circle." Other competitors, princes 
of great renown, still pressed forward to try what 
they could do, but met with no success. When all 
the Kshatriya lords had retired discomfited, Arjuna 
advanced from his place amongst the Brahmans and, 
amidst a great deal of clamour, strung the bow and, 
with unerring skill, shot the mark. A tumultuous 
shout arose from the assembled multitude ; there was 
a great uproar in the firmament, and the gods 
showered down flowers upon the happy hero. "And 
Krishna beholding the mark shot and beholding Partha 
(Arjuna) also like unto Indra himself, who had shot 
the mark, was filled with joy, and approached the son 
of Kunti with a white robe and a garland of flowers." 
The Kshatriya Eajahs and chiefs were wild at their 
defeat by a Brahman, and although they were prepared 
to admit that their kingdoms, and they themselves 
also, existed solely for the benefit of the Brahmans, 
they demurred to such a conclusion of the swayam- 
vara of a Kshatriya princess, and made a fierce attack 
upon King Draupada, who was willing to hand Drau- 
padi over to the victor. Arjuna rushed at once to the 
king's rescue, accompanied by the redoubtable Bhima, 
armed with nothing less than an uprooted tree and, 
though a desperate fight ensued, the Pandava brothers 
succeeded, partly through the mediation of Krishna — 
whom we here meet for the first time — in leaving the 
amphitheatre, closely followed by beautiful Draupadi. 
Then those illustrious " sons of Pretha returning to 
the potter's abode, approached their mother. And 
those first of men represented Yajnaseni (Draupadi) 
unto their mother as the alms they had obtained that 
day. And Kunti who was there within the room and 

1 Kama had been brought up in the family of a Suta or 
charioteer and was reckoned as belonging to that caste. 



124 THE MAHABHARATA 

saw not her sons replied, saying, ' Enjoy ye all (what 
ye have obtained).' " The moment after she beheld 
Krishna, and then she said, " 0, what have I said ? " 
However, Draupadi was fated to have five husbands 
for, in a previous existence on the earth, she had, on 
five different occasions, asked the gods for a good 
husband as the reward of the austerities she practised. 
Yudhisthira knew this. It had been revealed to him 
by Vyasa. So when the matter was referred to him, 
as head of the family, he said simply : " The auspicious 
Draupadi shall be the common wife of us all;" a 
decision which pleased his brothers considerably for, 
as the poet tells us, " The sons of Pandu then hearing 
those words of their eldest brother, began to revolve 
them in their minds in great cheerfulness." 

Their life in the potter's house was simplicity itself. 
Krishna prepared the food for the family and served 
it out to the several members, taking only a little for 
herself and eating it last of all. At night all seven 
slept on a bed of knsa grass covered with deerskins. 
The brothers lay side by side, their mother along the 
line of their heads, and Krishna " along the line of 
their feet as their nether pillow." 

When Draupadi, nothing loth, had gone away with 
the handsome victor, the King of Panchala was 
naturally very anxious to find out who the successful 
suitor really was. By a little artful eavesdropping on 
the part of Dhrista-dyumna, the secret became known 
to him, and he rejoiced to find what a good match 
Krishna had made. Arjuna caused great prepara- 
tions to be undertaken for the wedding. He did not 
quite like the proposed fivefold arrangement ; but 
was induced to consent to it, after Yyasa himself had 
explained to him how polyandry was not in itself 
sinful, and how this particular marriage had been pre- 
arranged by Destiny. It only remained for Draupadi 
to be led round the sacred fire on five successive days 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 125 

by the five brothers in turn. After the five weddings 
the King of the Panchalas made valuable presents to 
Draupadi's husbands, including gold, chariots, horses 
and elephants, "and he also gave thern a hundred 
female servants, all in the prime of youth and decked 
iu costly robes and ornaments and floral wreaths." 
Krishna also bestowed upon the happy Pandavas 
presents of various sorts, — costly robes, soft blankets, 
golden oruaments, and superb vessels set with gems 
and diamonds. And, in addition to these, " many 
elephants and horses, crores of gold coins, and thou- 
sands of young and beautiful female servants brought 
from various countries." x 

The alliance thus formed with the Eajah of Penchala 
made a great change in the fortunes of the Pandavas, 
and induced their cousins at Hastinapur to make 
overtures of friendship to them. The negotiations 
led, at length, to an amicable arrangement, by which 
the Kauravas continued to remain and rule at Hasti- 
napur, while the Pandavas were assisted to settle 
themselves in Khandava-prasta on the banks of the 
Jumna. The portion of the country assigned to the 
sons of Pandu " was an unreclaimed desert," but they 
soon built a gorgeous and wonderful city there, Indra- 
prasta, 2 " surrounded by a trench as wide as the sea, 

1 From this story of Draupadiit seems evident that polyandry 
was practised at least in parts of ancient India ; as, indeed, it 
is to this day, in portions of the Himalayan region. That it 
was not very uncommon in the old time we may gather from a 
remark, attributed to Kama, in reference to Draupadi herself — 
" women always like to have many husbands" (" Adi Parva " 
of the " Mahabharata," section cciv.). 

2 " Again the site of Indraprasta is far more distinctly indi- 
cated than the site of Hastinapur. The pilgrim who wends his 
way from the modern city to Delhi to pay a visit to the strange 
relics of the ancient world, which surround the mysterious 
Kutub, will find on either side of his road a number of desolate 
heaps of the debris of thousands of years, the remains of sue- 



126 THE MAHABHARATA 

and by walls reaching high into the heavens . . . 
and the gateways that protected the town were high 
as the Mandara Mountain and massy as the clouds." 

At Indraprasta the brothers lived happily with 
their wife, having, upon the advice of a Eishi, arranged 
" that when one of them would be sitting with Drau- 
padi, if any other of the four would see that one thus, 
he (the intruder) must retire into the forest for twelve 
years, passing his days as a Brahmacharin." One day 
a Brahman, who had been robbed of his cattle, came 
in great haste to the king's palace and, lamenting 
bitterly, accused the Pandavas of allowing him to be 
deprived of his property by contemptible thieves. 
Arjuna, recognizing his duty to afford the Brahman 
redress and protection, resolved to pursue the robbers ; 
but his arms were in the room where Draupadi was 
sitting with Yudhisthira. Balancing against each 
other the sin of allowing the Brahman's wrongs to go 
unavenged, and the breach of decorum involved in 
entering the chamber when his brother was engaged 
with Draupadi, he deliberately chose the latter, not- 
withstanding the consequences of their mutual agree- 
ment on that point. Once in possession of his arms 
he pursued the thieves, recovered the stolen property, 
and restored it to the Brahman ; but on returning to 
the palace he voluntarily determined to go into exile 
in fulfilment of the terms of the compact about 
Draupadi. 

Arjuna's twelve years of exile were full of adventure. 
At the spot where the Ganges enters the plains 
(Hurdwar) he stepped into the sacred stream for a 
bath, was drawn down into the water by Ulupi, the 

cessive capitals which date back to the very dawn of history, 
and local tradition still points to these sepulchres of departed 
ages as the sole remains of the Eaj of the sons of Pandu and 
their once famous city of Indraprasta." — Wheeler's " History 
of India," vol. i., p. 142. 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 127 

daughter of the King of the Nagas, and taken by her 
to the beautiful mansion of her father. The love-sick 
Ulupi courted Arjuna so warmly that he could not 
find it in his heart to resist her solicitations. In 
return, Ulupi bestowed upon Arjuna the gift of invisi- 
bility in water. 

From one sacred stream to another, from one holy 
place to another, wandered the willing exile, giving 
away much wealth to the Brahmans. At length he 
travelled as far as Munipur. Now the King of Munipur 
had a beautiful daughter named Chitrangada. Arjuna 
saw, and fell desperately in love with the fair maiden. 
He asked her hand in marriage and obtained it, on 
condition that the first son born of the union should 
be considered to belong to the King of Munipur, in 
order to succeed him on the throne of that country. 
Three years did Arjuna live at Munipur, but when a 
son was born to Chitrangada he took an affectionate 
farewell of her, and set out again upon his wanderings. 
Visiting many lands and experiencing strange ad- 
ventures, he at length arrived at Dwarka, on the shore 
of the Southern Sea, the capital of his kinsman, 
Krishna, King of the Yadhavas. A casual sight of 
Subhadra, the handsome sister of Krishna, made a 
strong and visible impression upon the susceptible 
heart of Arjuna. Krishna perceived the effect pro- 
duced by his sister's charms, and was not indisposed 
to an alliance with the Pandava hero. Should Sub- 
hadra, now of age, hold a swayamvara or maiden's 
choice ? Krishna thought the result of such a plan 
might be disappointing ; for who could say what choice 
a capricious girl might make ! So, he artfully sug- 
gested to Arjuna to carry off the maiden by force, 
since "in the case of Kshatriyas that are brave, a 
forcible abduction for purposes of marriage is ap- 
plauded, as the learned have said. 1 " Arjuna, who was 
ready to achieve anything achievable by man to obtain 



128 THE MAHABHARATA 



"that girl of sweet smiles," soon put the suggestion 
into practice, to the great indignation of the Yadhava 
chiefs ; but Krishna threw oil upon the troubled 
waters, and everything was amicably settled in the 
end, the wedding being celebrated on a magnificent 
scale. After the prescribed twelve years of exile were 
•completed, Arjuna returned to Khandava-prasta with 
Subhadra, and was loyally welcomed by all. But 
when he visited Draupadi she evinced very natural 
signs of jealousy, and recommended Arjuna to go to 
the daughter of the Satwata race. However he coaxed 
lier over, and when Subhadra, dressed in red silk, but 
in the simple fashion of a cow-keeper, approached and 
bowed down to Draupadi, saying, "I am thy maid," 
her resentful feelings were disarmed ; she rose hastily 
and embraced her young rival with the significant 
greeting : " Let thy husband be without a foe." 

Krishna, the Prince of Dwarka, now visited his 
brother-in-law in great state, and brought with him a 
vast store of valuable gifts, amongst which we need 
only notice " a thousand damsels well skilled in assist- 
ing at the operations of bathing and at drinking." No 
light recommendations apparently, for it would seem 
that in those good old times the practice of drinking 
wine was quite common ; as we are told by the poet, in 
connection with a great picnic, given by Arjuna and 
Krishna, that " the women of the party, all of full 
rotund hips and fine deep bosoms and handsome eyes, 
and gait unsteady with wine, began to sport there at 
the command of Krishna and Partha (Arjuna). And 
some amongst the women sported as they liked in the 
woods, and some in the waters, and some within the 
mansions as directed by Partha and Govinda (Krishna). 
And Draupadi and Subhadra, exhilarated with wine, 
began to give away unto the women so sporting their 
costly robes and ornaments. And some amongst 
those women began to dance in joy, and some began 



, 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 129 

to sing, and some amongst them began to laugh and 
jest, and some to drink excellent wines." 

The picnic referred to was succeeded by a terrible 
conflict, in which Krishna and Arjuna, in the interests 
of Agni, opposed Indra and his celestial hosts. Agni, 
the god of lire, having drunk a continuous stream of 
clarified butter for twelve years, during the sacrifice 
of King Swetaki, was satiated with his greasy fare, 
had become pale and could not shine as before. To 
recover his health a change of diet was necessary for 
the god, and he, therefore, wished to devour, with his 
flaming tongues, the forest of Khandava in that land ; 
but whenever he attempted to do this, Indra opposed 
him, quenching the flames raised by the fire-god with 
torrents of rain from above. However, Arjuna, in his 
wonderful way, " covered the forest of Khandava with 
innumerable arrows, like the moon covering the atmo- 
sphere with a thick fog," and in this manner protected 
the burning forest from Indra' s drenching showers. A 
fierce battle with Indra, backed by Asuras, Gand- 
harvas, Yakshas, and a host of others, resulted in the 
complete victory of Arjuna and his kinsman, in the 
total consumption of the forest by fire, and the 
almost wholesale destruction of all its inhabitants of 
every kind. . 

Only six of the dwellers in the forest of Khandava 
were allowed to escape with their lives. Aswa-Sena, 
Maya, and four birds called Sharugakos. Now Maya 
was the chief architect of the Danavas and, in grati- 
tude for his preservation, built a wonderful Sabha, or 
hall, for the Pandavas, the most beautiful structure 
of its kind in the whole world. 

One day, while the Pandavas were holding their 
court in this hall, the celestial Kishi Narada visited 
them, and the subject of conversation having turned 
upon the splendours of Maya's handiwork, the Eishi 
described the courts of Indra, Yama, Varuna, and 

K 



130 THE MAHABHARATA 

Kuvera, as also " the assembly-house of the grandsire, 
that house which none can describe, saying, it is such, 
for within a moment it assumes a different form that 
language fails to paint." 

Within the narrow limits I have allowed myself, 
these highly interesting pictures of the different 
heavens of the Hindus cannot be reproduced ; but 
their more salient features must not be passed over, 
since they are highly characteristic of the ideas of the 
people who conceived them. The hall of Brahma, the 
Supreme Being, the Creator of everything, is an in- 
describable mansion, peopled by a most august, if 
somewhat shadowy, assembly. Here, in the presence 
of the grandsire of all, attend, in their personified 
forms, the various forces and phenomena of nature, 
such as time and space, heat and air, day and night, 
the months and seasons, the years and Yagas. Here 
also are ever to be found religion, joy, tranquillity, 
aversion and asceticism; here wisdom, intelligence 
and fame ; here the four Vedas, sacrifices and mantras. 
Here also perpetually attend hymns, dramas, songs 
and stories, together with all the sciences, in the com- 
pany of countless celestial Kishis and all the deities. 

The courts of the other gods, which are less solemn 
and sedate, always resound with strains of delightful 
vocal and instrumental music, and are enlivened with 
the graceful dancing of the charming Apsaras and 
Gandharvas. But it is Yama's Sabha that most con- 
cerns the human race, for it is there that, for the 
most part, the disembodied spirits of men are to be 
found. "Bright as burnished gold, that assembly- 
house covers an area of much more than a hundred 
Yojanas. Possessed of the splendour of the sun it 
yieldeth everything that one may desire. Neither 
very cool nor very hot, it delighteth the heart. In 
that assembly-house there is neither grief nor weak- 
ness of age, neither hunger nor thirst. Nothing dis- 






THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 131 

agreeable findetli a place there, nor wretchedness or 
distress. There can be no fatigue or any kind of evil 
feelings there. Every object of desire, celestial or 
human, is to be found in that mansion. And all 
kinds of enjoyable articles, as also of sweet juicy, 
agreeable, and" delicious edibles in profusion, that are 
licked, sucked and drunk, are there. And the floral 
wreaths in that mansion are of the most delicious 
fragrance, and the trees that stand around it yield 
fruits that are desired of them. And there are both 
cold and hot waters, and these are sweet and agree- 
able. And in that mansion many royal sages of great 
sanctity and Brahmana sages also of great purity 
wait upon and worship Yama, the son Yivaswat. . . . 
And Agastya and Mataiya and Kala and Mrityu 
(Death), performers of sacrifices, and Siddhas and 
many Yogins ; the Pitris . . . the wheel of time and 
the illustrious conveyer himself of the sacrificial 
butter ; all sinners among human beings, as also that 
have died during the winter solstice ; those officers of 
Yama who have been appointed to count the allotted 
days of everybody and everything, the Shingshapa, 
Palasha, Kasha, and Kusha, trees and plants, in their 
embodied forms : — these all wait upon and worship 
the god of justice in that assembly-house of his. . . . 
And many illustrious Gandharvas and many Apsaras 
fill every part of that mansion with music, both in- 
strumental and vocal, and with the sounds of laughter 
and dance. And excellent perfumes, and sweet sounds, 
and garlands of celestial flowers always contribute to 
make that mansion supremely blest. And hundreds 
of thousands of virtuous persons of celestial beauty 
and great wisdom always wait upon and worship the 
illustrious lord of created beings in that assembly- 
house." ' 

1 Such is the Hindu poet's conception of the court of Yama, 
the god of departed spirits, a delightful place where there is no 



132 THE MAHABHARATA 

During the period in the history of the Pandavas 
which we have now reached, Draupadi bore five sons x 
to her five husbands, and Subhadra also became the 
mother of the afterwards famous Abhimanyu. 

In their new home the Pandavas had flourished 
greatly, and having established an undisputed su- 
premacy over all the chieftains in their immediate 
neighbourhood, they thought of performing a rajasuya 
or sacrifice of triumph, a sort of formal declaration of 
imperial claims. But there was a serious difficulty in 
the way of the accomplishment of this proud function ; 
for there reigned at Mathura, the capital of Magadha, 
a powerful king, named Jarasandha who, having him- 
self already brought no less than eighty-six kings under 
his dominion, was not, by any means, likely to ac- 
knowledge the superiority of Yudhisthira. Hence it 
followed that, until Jarasandha were overcome, the 
rajasuya could not be undertaken. 

To conquer or otherwise dispose of Jarasandha was, 
therefore, the problem before the sons of Pandu. Their 
kinsman, Krishna, " foremost of personages whose 
strength consists in wisdom and policy," was on a 
visit to Indraprasta, and willingly accompanied Arjuna 
and Bhima (all three disguised as Brahmans) to 
Mathura. Once in the presence of their formidable 
rival they threw off the mask and made themselves 
known to him. Krishna upbraided Jarasandha with 
his cruel purpose of offering up the vanquished kings, 
whom he held in captivity, as sacrifices to the god 



lack of sensuous pleasures. He places amongst the attendants 
in this court " all sinners amongst human beings ; " but as, ac- 
cording to Brahmanical theology, there is punishment for the 
wicked, we may presume that the sinners referred to are only 
temporary sojourners in this pleasant abode, awaiting their trial 
and the judgment of Yama upon their deeds. 

1 Pratibhindhya, Sutasoma, Sutakarna, Shotanika, and 
Srutasena. 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 133 

Rudra and, without hesitation, intimated that he and 
his companions had come to Mathura expressly to 
slay him. In addressing the King of Magadha Krishna 
gave expression to sentiments which remind one forc- 
ibly of the warlike ideas of the Norsemen. "Know," 
said he "0 bull among men, that Kshatriyas engage 
in battle with heaven in view. . . . Study of Yedas, 
great fame, ascetic penances, and death in battle are 
all acts that lead to heaven. The attainment of 
heaven by the other three acts may be uncertain. 
But death in battle hath that for its certain con- 
sequence." The challenge thus given was accepted 
in the chivalrous spirit of the times. A single and 
public combat was arranged between Bhima and 
Jarasandha. Crowds of all classes of citizens, in- 
cluding women, were present to see the event. Both 
heroes fought without weapons. The encounter, which 
was carried on with great ferocity, lasted thirteen days 
without intermission for rest or food, and finally re- 
sulted in Jarasandha's backbone being broken against 
Bhima's knee. " And the roar of the Pandava, 
mingling with that of Jarasandha while he was being 
broken on Bhima's knee, caused a loud uproar that 
struck fear into the heart of every creature." After 
Jarasandha had been slain, Krishna released his royal 
prisoners, and engaged them to assist Yudhisthira 
in the celebration of the proposed rajasuya sacrifice. 

As soon as the occurrences at Mathura had been 
made known to Yudhisthira, he despatched his four 
brothers to the four points of the compass to collect 
tribute from all the Kajahs of the world. 1 These 

1 It would appear that only one of the armies — that which 
proceeded northward — went outside the limits of India, to the 
countries immediately beyond the Himalayas. India, with the 
region just referred to, was, for the poets of the "Mahabharata," 
the whole world. On this point see Dr. Eajendra Lalla Mitra's 
4 'Indo- Aryans," vol. ii., pp. 9-12. 



134 THE MAHABHARATA 

expeditions were fruitful of wonderful adventures, but 
we have not space to recount them here, though we 
must not omit to note, in passing, that when those 
unprovoked aggressors, the sons of Pandu, vanquished 
any prince who offered resistance, he at once and, as 
a matter of course, joined the victors with his forces, 
and helped to subjugate the unfortunate king upon 
whose territories the advancing tide of invasion next 
broke. 1 

As a sequel to the conquests of the Pandavas, a 
crowd of Brahmans, with scores of Eajahs, nocked to 
Indraprasta from all parts of the country, and were 
right royally lodged and entertained by Yudhisthira's 
commands. The various duties demanded by the 
occasion were intrusted to the different members of 
the family and to intimate friends of the Pandavas. 
Dhusashana was appointed to cater for the visitors ; 
Kripa to look after the gold and gems ; Duryodhana 
to receive the tributes; and Krishna, at his own 
desire, was engaged in washing the feet of the 
Brahmans. 

Arrangements for the rajasuya were pushed for- 
ward, and all was hubbub and excitement in Indra- 
prasta. The Brahman sages found the occasion a 
grand one for disputations with one another, and 
they took full advantage of it ; but a suppressed fire 
of discontent and jealousy was smouldering in the 
hearts of the assembled Kajahs, which was set ablaze 
by a proposal to regard Krishna as the foremost chief- 
tain present. Angry and contemptuous objections 
were made to his being given precedence in the 

1 This statement, which is so consistent with what is known 
in respect to genuine historical events in India, throws a strong 
side-light upon the utter inabilit3 T of the Indian kings from 
times immemorial to unite for purposes of defence, their 
ready acceptance of defeat, and their willing allegiance to the 
conqueror. 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 135 

assembly. The wise Bhisma, however, fully aware 
who and what his kinsman really was, solemnly 
assured the malcontents that " Krishna is the origin 
of the universe, and that in which the universe is to 
dissolve. Indeed this universe of mobile and im- 
mobile creatures has sprung into existence for Krishna 
only. He is the unmanifest primal matter, the Creator, 
the eternal and beyond (the ken of) all creatures." 
Notwithstanding this testimony the opposition did 
not cease. Indeed Shishupala, the mighty King of 
Chedi, ridiculed the old man's words, heaped con- 
tempt upon Krishna, and eventually, with many 
taunts and jeers, challenged him to fight. " And 
while Shishupala was speaking thus, the exalted 
slayer of Madhu thought in his mind of the discus 
that humbleth the pride of the Asuras. And as soon 
as the discus came into his hands the illustrious one 
skilled in speech loudly uttered these words ! ' Listen, 
ye lords of earth, why this one had hitherto been 
pardoned by me. Asked by his mother, a hundred 
offences (of his) were to be pardoned by me. Even 
this was the boon she had asked and even this I 
granted her. That number, ye kings, hath become 
full. I shall now slay him in your presence, ye 
monarchs.' Having said this, the chief of the Yadus, 
that slayer of all foes, in anger instantly cut off the 
head of the ruler of Chedi by means of his discus. 
And the mighty-armed one fell down like a cliff 
struck with thunder. And the assembled kings then 
beheld a fierce energy, like unto the sun in the sky, 
issue out of the body of the King of Chedi. And that 
energy then adored Krishna, possessed of eyes like 
lotus leaves and worshipped of all the worlds, and 
entered his body. And the kings beholding the 
energy which entered that mighty- armed chief of 
men regarded it as wonderful." And indeed they 
might well do so, yet the poet tells us that many of 



136 THE MAHABHARATA 

the chiefs were excited to fierce if suppressed anger 
by what they had witnessed. 1 

At length the great sacrifice for imperial sway was 
successfully accomplished, and with the greatest im- 
aginable splendour. After which the subject Eajahs 
were courteously dismissed to their respective prin- 
cipalities. 

But the grandeur and wealth displayed on this 
occasion served to re-awaken or inflame the old 
jealousy of the Kauravas, particularly of Duryodhana, 
who had been the unwilling collector of the vast 
tribute poured into Yudhisthira's treasury at Indra- 
prasta. Despairing of injuring their rivals by open 
and fair means, the Kauravas determined to resort 
once more to artifice, having, as usual, discussed the 
pros and cons of the question from all points of view ; 
for these old-time heroes of India were nothing if not 
argumentative. 2 They built a sumptuous reception 
hall, " a crystal-arched palace," full two miles square, 
decorated with gold and lapis lazuli, with a thousand 
columns and one hundred gates. Hither they invited 
a large. number of royal friends, but the principal 
guests were the Pandavas, whom they challenged to 
a friendly gambling match. Yudhisthira well under- 
stood and clearly stated the objectionable features of 
gambling, and was fully aware that the game of 
chance he was challenged to take part in would not 
be fairly conducted. However, as a Kshatriya, he 
could not decline the match, and so sat down to play 
against Shakuni, Queen Gandhari's brother, a skilful 

1 The whole story, though so bewilderingly strange, is yet so 
characteristically Hindu in its conception and motive, that I 
could not exclude it even from this brief sketch. Nor could I 
venture to present it in words other than those of an orthodox 
Hindu translator. 

2 Throughout these epics, questions of right and wrong, policy 
and impolicy are discussed with rare acumen. 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 137 

and unscrupulous dice-player, who was backed by 
Duryodhana. 

In a succession of games Yudhisthira lost all his 
money and jewels, all his cattle, jewelled chariots, 
war-elephants, slayes and slave-girls, and then the 
whole of the kingdom of the Pandavas. Driven to 
despair, the luckless gambler would persist in con- 
tinuing to play while there remained anything at all 
to stake. But his success was no better than before, 
and he staked and lost his brothers, one by one, then 
himself and, lastly, the joint-wife of the Pandavas, 
the famous Draupadi. 

An exciting and most sensational scene followed. 
To complete the humiliation of their rivals, the success- 
ful gamesters ordered Draupadi to be conducted into 
the gaming hall. She astutely objected that, as Yud- 
histhira had first staked and lost himself, and thus 
entered a servile condition before he played for her, he 
was not legally competent to dispose of her person ; 
but her protest was unheeded. Being dressed at the 
time in a single robe of cloth, a simple saree appar- 
ently, she refused to appear in that attire before the 
assembled chiefs. But Dhusashana, with brutal un- 
ceremoniousness, dragged her into the great hall by 
the hair of her head, treating her, in the presence of 
her husbands, with the familiar license which they 
were accustomed to indulge in when dealing with their 
female slaves. Dhusashana even went so far as to 
attempt to strip beautiful Draupadi in the presence of 
the assembly. In her trouble she prayed aloud to 
Krishna for help, invoking him as the lover of the gopis 
(milkmaids), the dweller in Dwarka, the soul of the 
universe, the Creator of all things. And Krishna, 
hearing her prayer, miraculously multiplied her gar- 
ments as fast as they were removed. Yet notwith- 
standing these manifestations of divine protection, 
Duryodhana, not to be behind in affronting his rivals, 



138 THE MAHABHARATA 

indecently bared his left thigh and showed it to the 
modest Draupadi, who, as she said, had never since the 
occasion of her swayarnvara been beheld by an 
assembly like this. These gross indignities, it may be 
well imagined, must have driven the Pandavas frantic. 
Why then did they not dare to interpose ? Because 
they were bound by the acts of their elder brother ; 
and submission to authority seems ever to have been 
the highest virtue of these Hindu heroes ! Only 
Bhima, with an impetuosity which was not to be 
restrained even by respect for his elder brother, took a 
solemn oath before the assembly that, for the deeds 
that they had done that day, he would break the thigh 
of Duryodhana and drink the blood of Dhusashana, or 
forfeit his hopes of heaven. Both these vows he 
accomplished in the great war to be subsequently 
referred to. 

While this sensational scene was being enacted, a 
jackal howled in the /ioma-chaniber of King Dhritar- 
ashtra. Terrified by this omen of dire evil, the old 
king began to reprove Duryodhana for his conduct ; 
and, addressing Draupadi, in respectful and affectionate 
terms, desired her to ask of him any boon she pleased. 
Without hesitation she demanded at once that Yud- 
histhira should be freed from slavery. A second boon 
being offered her, she solicited the freedom of her 
other husbands ; but when she was given the option 
of a third boon she declined to accept the favour, 
saying: " king, these my husbands, freed from the 
wretched state of bondage, will be able to achieve 
prosperity by their own virtuous acts." However, 
Dhritarashtra dismissed the Pandavas in honour to 
their own city, desiring them to think no more of the 
unpleasant episode of the gambling match. 

The crestfallen visitors hastened to take advantage 
of the blind king's permission to depart, and they set 
out at once on their homeward journey, revolving in 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 139 

their minds many a scheme of future vengeance. The 
Kauravas, however, felt, and justly too, that after what 
had passed that day the matter could not be thus 
easily settled. They knew their outraged cousins 
would burn to wipe out the insults they had received, 
and so they entreated the blind old king, their father, 
to recall the Pandavas and induce them to play a final 
game, upon the issue of which one party or the other 
should go into voluntary exile. The Pandavas were 
brought back to try the fortune of the dice once more, 
and it was arranged that the losing side should go 
into exile, spending twelve years in the forests and 
one additional year in any city they might find con- 
venient ; and that if the exiles were discovered, during 
the time of their concealment in the city, they would 
have to go through another exile of thirteen years. 
The game upon which so much hung was duly played, 
with the result that the Pandavas had to exchange the 
splendour and luxury of the palace for the simple life 
and scanty fare of the forest, with which they had 
already become acquainted in their earlier wanderings. 
When Dhusashana saw that Sakuni had won the 
game, he danced about for joy, and cried out : " Now 
is established the Kaj of Duryodhana ! " But Bhima 
said: "Be not elated with joy, but remember my 
words. The day will come when I shall drink your 
blood, or never attain to regions of blessedness ! " 
The Pandavas seeing that they had lost their wager, 
threw off their garments, put on deerskins, and pre- 
pared to depart into the forest with their joint-wife, 
their mother Kunti, and their priest Dhaumya ; but 
Vidura representing to Yudhisthira that Kunti was, 
by reason of her years, unfitted to bear the hardships 
of exile, proposed that she should be left to his care, 
and this kindly offer was readily accepted. From the 
assembly the sons of Pandu went out, hanging down 
their heads with shame, and covering their faces with 



140 THE MAHABHARATA 

their garments. Only Bhima, always more impulsive 
than his brothers, threw out his long, mighty arms, 
and glared at the Kauravas furiously, while Draupadi 
spread her long black hair over her face and wept 
bitterly. The blind old king regarded the departure 
of his nephews with grave misgivings, for he felt that 
inevitable destruction awaited him and his at the 
hands of the Pandavas. All this, he well knew, was 
the work of his son Duryodhana, constrained by 
destiny, since " the whole universe moveth at the will 
of the Creator under the controlling influence of fate : " 
and, as Sanjaya said, in allusion to Duryodhana, " the 
gods first deprive that man of his reason unto whom 
they send defeat and disgrace." 

Surely it is only a Hindu bard who could imagine 
such sudden and complete reverses of fortune and such 
tame, almost abject, acquiescence in the circumstances 
of the hour, on the part of such redoubtable heroes as 
the sons of Pandu ! Nor is it comprehensible why 
exile to the forest should always entail the hermit 
garb and utter destitution. 

That King Yudhisthira felt his altered position 
bitterly is evident from the words he addressed to the 
Brahmans who accompanied him and his brothers out 
of the city. " Bobbed," he says, "of our prosperity 
and kingdom, robbed of everything, we are about to 
enter the deep woods in sorrow : depending for our 
food on fruits and roots and the produce of the chase. 
The forest too is full of dangers and abounds with 
reptiles and beasts of prey." However his anticipa- 
tions were worse than the reality. By the advice of a 
Brahman the exiled monarch made an appeal to the 
sun for help, addressing him in such terms as these. 
" Thou art, sun, the eye of the universe ! Thou art 
the soul of all corporeal existences ! Thou art the 
origin of all things. . . . Thou art called Indra, thou 
art Vishnu, thou art Brahma, thou art Prajapati ! 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT AVAR 141 

Thou art fire and thou art the subtle mind ! and thou 
art the lord and the eternal Brahma." * In response 
to this appeal the sun-god appeared to the king, and 
presented him with a copper cooking-vessel, which 
proved to be an inexhaustible source of fruits and 
roots, meat and vegetables to the exiles during their 
twelve years of enforced sojourn in the woods. 2 

Their forest wanderings were productive of many 
stirring adventures, the narrative of which occupies a 
large portion of the original poem, but we can find 
space to notice qnly a few of these. 

Following the advice of the sage Vyasa, Arjuna 
visited the Himalayas in order to gain the favour of 
Siva, and to obtain from him certain most potent 
celestial weapons for the destruction of the Kauravas, 
of whom the Pandava heroes seem, notwithstanding 
their own wonderful fighting qualities, to have had a 
wholesome dread. Having arrived upon the sacred 
mountains, Arjuna went through a course of austerities 
" with arms upraised, leaning upon nothing and stand- 
ing on the tips of his toes." For food he at first had 

1 A little later Arjuna, addressing Krishna, says: " slayer 
of all foes, having floated on the primordial waters, thou sub- 
sequently becamest Hari, and Brahma, and Surya, and Dharma, 
and Dhatri, and Yama, and Anala, and Vayu, and Vaisravana, 
and Eudra, and Kala, and the firmament, the earth, and the ten 
directions ! Thyself incarnate, thou art the lord of the mobile 
and immobile universe, the creator of all, O thou foremost of all 
existences." It would appear that each deity who is invoked is 
credited by his adorer with being the origin and support of the 
entire universe, the beginning and the end of all things. 

2 In a subsequent page, however, we find the following. 
11 Tell us now, Brahman, what was the food of the sons of 
Pandu while they lived in the woods ? Was it of the wilderness 
or was it the produce of cultivation ? " Vaisampayana said 
" Those bulls among men collecting the produce of the wilder- 
ness, and killing the deer with pure arrows, first dedicated a por- 
tion of the food to the Brahmans and themselves ate the rest." 
(Section L.) 



142 THE MAHABHARATA 

withered leaves, but eventually he fed on air alone. 
Such was the fervour of his penances that the earth 
around him began to smoke, and the alarmed Eishis 
came in a body to Siva, and asked him to interfere. 
The chief of all the gods sent them away with comfort- 
ing assurances and, having assumed the appearance of 
a Kirdta, or low-class hunter, came upon Arjuna and 
provoked him to an encounter. The battle was fierce, 
culminating in a desperate personal struggle ; but 
where one of the combatants was the Supreme Being 
the issue could not be doubtful, and Arjuna fell 
smitten senseless by the god. He soon recovered 
consciousness, and " mentally prostrating himself 
before the gracious god of gods, and making a clay 
image of that deity, he worshipped it with offerings of 
floral garlands." * To his surprise he found the 
garland he had offered to the clay image adorning the 
head of his victorious enemy, the Kirdta, who thus 
revealed himself to the much-relieved son of Pandu. 
Arjuna prostrated himself before the deity, who ex- 
pressed his approval of his worshipper, and presently 
bestowed upon him the gift of a terrible celestial 
weapon, called the Pacupata, with instructions in 
regard to the appropriate mantras or spells to be used 
with it. At that moment the whole earth, with its 
mountains, plains, and rivers, trembled with excite- 
ment, a terrible hurricane expressed the concern of 
nature in the important event, and the " terrible 
weapon in its embodied form " stood by the side of 
Arjuna ready to obey his behests. When Siva had 
vanished from sight, the guardians of the four regions 
(lokapalali) Kuvera, Yaruna, Yama, and Indra appeared 
in great splendour upon the mountain top, and pre- 
sented Arjuna with other celestial weapons ; after 

1 This is an interesting and noteworthy instance of idolatry 
attributed to one of the ancient Aryan heroes by the Brahman 
authors of the " Mahabharata," 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT AVAR 143 

which he was carried in a wondrous car to the heaven 
of his real father, the god Indra. It was a glorious 
and delightful region, lighted with its own inherent 
brilliancy, adorned with flowers of every season, fanned 
by fragrant breezes and resounding with celestial 
music. Here there were bands of lovely Apsaras 
and Gandharvas, who gladdened all hearts with their 
ravishing songs and dauces. It was a region for the 
virtuous alone, and not for those "who had turned 
their back on the field of battle." 

In this delightful place Arjuna passed five years of 
his life, treated with the highest honour and considera- 
tion, learning the use of the various celestial weapons 
with which he was eventually to overthrow those re- 
doubtable champions, Kripa and Drona, Bhisma and 
Kama. Nor were lighter studies neglected. Arjuna, 
under a competent instructor, became proficient in 
the arts of music and dancing. 

That he might be made " to taste the joys of 
heaven," properly, the lovely Apsara, 1 Urvasi, of wide 
hips, crisp soft hair, beautiful eyes and full bosom, 
was specially commanded to make herself agreeable to 
Arjuna. Her sensual beauty, described in some detail 
by the poet, failed, however, to subdue the hero, who 
met her amatory advances with a somewhat exagger- 
ated respect, which so enraged the fair temptress that 
she cursed him, saying: "Since thou disregardest a 
woman come to thy mansion at the command of thy 
father and of her own motion — a woman, besides, who 

1 " Apsaras — The Apsaras are the celebrated nymphs of 
Indra's heaven. ... It is said that when they came forth from 
the waters (at the churning of the ocean) neither the gods nor 
the Asuras would have them for wives, so they become common 
to all. . . . The Apsaras, then, are fairly-like beings, beautiful and 
voluptuous. Their amours on earth have been numerous, and 
they are the rewards in Indra's paradise held out to heroes who 
fall in battle." — Prof. Dawson's " Classical Dictionary of Hindu 
Mythology," etc. 



144 THE MAHABHARATA 

is pierced by the shafts of Kama, — therefore, Partha, 
thou shalt have to pass thy time among females, 
unregarded, and as a dancer and destitute of man- 
hood." 

While Arjuna was in the heaven of Indra, King 
Yudhisthira passed some time in the forest of Kam- 
yaka, in company with his three younger brothers and 
Draupadi, attended by his family priest, Dhaumya, 
and a number of faithful Brahmans. Here he learned, 
from an illustrious Kishi, Vrihadacwa, " the science of 
dice in its entirety," ignorance of which science had 
cost him so dear. After a while the party set out on 
a pilgrimage to visit and bathe in those tirthas, or 
sacred waters, which abound all over India to this 
day. Each tirtha is famous for some event in the 
history of the gods or the saints of the lands, and the 
water of each one has a virtue of its own. A dip in 
one cleanses the bather from all his sins, a dip in 
another confers upon him the merit of having bestowed 
a thousand kine upon the Brahmans, or, perhaps, 
that of having performed a horse- sacrifice. By a 
plunge in a third tirtha the pilgrim acquires the power 
of disappearance at will, or some other coveted power ; 
while ablution in the water of a fourth places the 
heaven of Indra, or of some other god, within his 
reach. It is evident that by making a round of these 
tirthas a man might acquire superhuman power and 
the highest felicity in this and a future life. 

Journeying leisurely from tirtha to tirtha, from the 
Punjab to the Southern Sea, under the guidance of 
the sage Loma^a, King Yudhisthira, with the others, 
pleasantly acquired an enormous store of merits of 
various kinds. But, anxious for reunion with Arjuna, 
they wended their way back to the North, visiting the 
tirthas on their route, till they found themselves in 
the Himalayas. Pushing into the sacred solitude of 
these giant mountains they met with many adventures, 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 145 

in which Bhinia's son, Ghatotkacha, was very helpful 
to them. At last, from a lofty summit, these fortunate 
travellers got a glimpse of the abode of Kuvera, the 
god of wealth, " adorned with golden and crystal 
palaces, surrounded on all sides by golden walls 
having the splendour of all gems, furnished with 
gardens all around, higher than a mountain peak, 
beautiful with ramparts and towers, and adorned with 
doorways and gates and rows of pennons. And the 
abode was graced with dallying damsels dancing 
around, and also with pennons wafted by the breeze. 
. . . And gladdening all creatures, there was blowing 
a breeze, carrying all perfumes, and of balmy feel. 
And there were various beautiful and wonderful trees 
of diverse hues, resounding with diverse dulcet notes." 
Kuvera came out to meet the Pandavas, and after 
some excellent advice to Yudhisthira, in which he 
pointed out to the king that success in human affairs 
depended upon ''patience, ability (appropriate), time 
and place and prowess," requested them to retire to 
a somewhat less elevated position on the mountains, 
and there await the return of their brother. And it 
came to pass that one day, while they were think- 
ing of Arjuna, a blazing chariot driven by Indra's 
charioteer, Matali, filled the sky with its brilliancy and, 
stopping near them, their long -absent brother de- 
scended from it, in a resplendent form, adorned with 
a diadem and celestial garlands. He paid his respects, 
in due form, first to the family priest and then to 
Bhima ; after that he received the salutations of his 
younger brothers ; he next cheered his beloved Krishna 
by his presence, and finally stood, in an attitude of 
humility, before the king. The Pandavas worshipped 
Matali as if he were Indra himself, and then " duly 
inquired of him after the health of all the gods." At 
dawn next day Indra himself, attended by hosts of 
Gandharvas and Apsaras, visited the Pandavas and, 



146 THE MAHABHARATA 

having received their adoration, and having assured 
Yudhisthira that he would yet rule the earth, desired 
him to go back to Kamyaka, whereupon the Pandavas, 
of course, commenced their return journey. 

Arjuna, restored to the companionship of his brothers, 
related to them some of his adventures during the 
five years of his absence, and dwelt in some detail 
upon the successful destruction of certain Danavas, 
named Nivata-Kavachas, which he had carried out 
single-handed. These were ancient and powerful 
enemies of Indra, dwellers in the womb of the ocean, 
and numbering thirty millions. 1 Against these puis- 
sant demons Arjuna was sent in Indra's chariot, 
driven by Matali ; and, after prodigies of valour and 
the most marvellous performances with the celestial 
weapons which he had received from the gods, he com- 
pletely overthrew them and destroyed their wonderful 
aerial city, Hiranyapura. Shortly after these events 
Krishna came on a visit to his friends, and they were 
also joined by the sage Markandeya, who lightened 
the tedium of their wanderings with interesting nar- 
ratives of past events, and profitable discourses on 
important religious and philosophical subjects. How 
competent he was for such a task will be readily 
admitted, when we learn from himself that he, and he 
alone, of the race of men or created beings, was privi- 
leged to see the entire universe run its cycle of changes 
through the four appointed Yugas or ages ; to watch 
it undergo gradual degeneracy and decay ; and, finally, 
to witness its total destruction by fire, — with all ani- 
mated beings, even gods and demons, — only to be 
recreated again in order to run its appointed course 
through the ages once more. 2 

1 This is only a single instance of the perpetual and undying 
hostility between the celestials on the one hand and the demons 
on the other. 

2 Markandeya's description of the dissolution and recreation 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 147 

Markandeya relates to the Pandavas the whole story 
of the " Ramayana " and many another legend of the 
olden time. Let me here reproduce his story of the 
flood, as it has an interest not confined to India or 
Hindus, and also his explanation of the doctrine of 
Karma, of which we are beginning to hear so much 
in these days. 

Markandeya *s Account of the Universal Deluge. — 
There was once a powerful and great Rishi, named 
Manu, who " was equal unto Brahma in glory." For 
ten thousand years he practised the severest austerities 
in the forest, standing on one leg with uplifted hand 
and bow 7 ed head. One day as he was undergoing his 
self-inflicted penance, with matted locks and dripping 
garments, a little fish, approaching the bank of the 
stream near which the Kishi stood, entreated his pro- 
tection against the cruel voracity of the bigger fishes ; 
" for," said the little suppliant, "this fixed custom is 
well established among us, that the strong fish always 
prey upon the weak ones." The sage, touched with 
compassion, took the little fish out of the river, and 
put it for safety into an earthen vessel of water, and 
tended it carefully. In its new home it grew apace 
and, at its own request, w r as removed to a tank. Here 
its dimensions increased so wonderfully that " although 
the tank was two yojanas in length and one yojana in 
width," there was not sufficient room in it for the fish, 
who again appealed to Manu, asking him to place it 
in the Ganges, "the favourite spouse of the ocean." 
Gigantic as the fish w 7 as, the wonderful Eishi put it 
into the river with his own hands ; but the Ganges 
itself was too small for this monster of the waters, and 

of the world has undoubtedly a certain grandiose character 
about it, but betrays the extremely limited geographical knowledge 
of these omniscient sages, whose acquaintance with the earth's 
surface is strictly bounded by the Himalayas and the Southern 
Sea. 



148 THE MAHABHARATA 

the Muni carried it to the sea- shore and consigned it 
to the bosom of the mighty ocean. 

"And when it was thrown into the sea by Manu, 
it said these words to him with a smile : l ' ador- 
able being thou hast protected me with special care ; 
do thou now listen to me as to what thou shouldst do 
in the fulness of time ! fortunate and worshipful sir, 
the dissolution of this mobile and immobile world is 
nigh at hand. The time for the purging of this world 
is now ripe. Therefore do I now explain what is well 
for thee. The mobile and the immobile divisions of 
the creation, those that have the power of locomotion 
and those that have it not, of all these the terrible 
doom hath now approached. Thou shalt build a strong 
and massive ark, and have it furnished with a long 
rope. On that must thou ascend, great Muni, with 
the seven Kishis, and take with thee all the different 
seeds which were enumerated by regenerate Brahmans 
in days of yore, and separately and carefully must 
thou preserve them therein. And whilst there, be- 
loved of the Munis, thou shalt wait for me, and I 
shall appear to thee like a horned animal, and thus, 
ascetic, shalt thou recognize me.' " 

Manu, having carried out the instructions of the 
fish in all its details, entered his ark and embarked 
upon the surging ocean. He thought of the fish, and 
it appeared with horns on its head, to which Manu 
fastened his vessel. A terrific tempest arose, in which 
the ark " reeled about like a drunken harlot." Water 



1 A smiling fish is, at least, an original idea. In another place 
we find the following in regard to a very ancient tortoise. 
"And as he came there we asked him, saying: 'Dost thou 
know this King Indra-dyumna ? ' And the tortoise reflected for 
a moment. And his eyes filled with tears, and his heart was 
much moved, and he trembled all over and was nearly deprived 
of his senses. And he said with joined hands, ' Alas, do I not 
know that one ? ' " — Vana Parva, p. 604. — P. C. Koy. 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 149 

covered everything, even the heavens and the firma- 
ment. For many years the fish towed the vessel 
through the flood, and at length conveyed it towards 
the highest peak of the Himavat (Himalayas) and 
instructed the occupants to moor their vessel to it. 
" Then the fish, addressing the associated Bishis, told 
them these words : ' I am Brahma, the lord of all 
creatures ; there is none greater than myself. Assum- 
ing the shape of a fish I have saved ye from this 
cataclysm. Manu will create (again) all beings — gods, 
Asuras and men, and all those divisions of creation 
which have the power of locomotion and which have 
it not. By practising severe austerities he will acquire 
this power, and, with my blessing, illusion will have 
no power over him." Manu, of course, underwent 
the necessary austerities, and recreated "all beings 
in proper and exact order." 

Such is the "Legend of the Fish," and whosoever 
listens to it every' day is assured of heaven. 1 / 

From this easy mode of reaching heaven, 2 as taught 
by the sage Markandeya, we turn to his exposition of 
the doctrine of Karma, which, if less comforting in 
respect to the means of attaining heavenly joys has, 
at least, something of philosophical plausibility to 
recommend it to our attention. 



1 This Hindu legend of the destruction of the world by water 
affords materials for a comparison with the Mosaic account of the 
same event, and the Chaldean story of the deluge, as recorded on 
the tablets which have been deciphered by the late George Smith. 

2 There are, according to the " JMahabharata," so many easy 
modes of obtaining a complete release from the penalties of sin, 
and of attaining heaven, that it would seem that only the most 
culpable negligence and obstinacy could lead the Hindu to lose 
his chance of being purged from sin and of enjoying beatitude 
hereafter. It must be remembered, however, that there are also 
passages, in which it is emphatically laid down, that 'purity of 
heart is an essential and indispensable condition of salvation. — 
Vcma Parva, section cc. 



150 THE MAHABHARATA 

The divine sage, addressing Yudhisthira, explained 
to him that happiness is to be attained neither by 
learning, nor good morals, nor personal exertion. 
There is yet another and more important factor than 
all these to be reckoned with, and that is Karma. " If 
the fruits of our exertion," says Markandeya, "were 
not dependent on anything else, people would attain 
the object of their desire by simply striving to attain 
it. It is sure that able, intelligent, and diligent 
persons are baffled in their efforts and do not attain 
the fruits of their actions. On the other hand, persons 
who are always active in injuring others, and in 
practising deception on the world, lead a happy life. 
There are some who attain prosperity without any 
exertion ; and there are others who with the utmost 
exertion are unable to achieve their dues. Miserly 
persons with the object of having sons born to them 
worship the gods and practise severe austerities, and 
these sons ... at length turn out to be very infamous 
scions of their race ; and others begotten under the 
same auspices, decently pass their lives in luxury, 
with hoards of riches and grain accumulated by their 
ancestors. The diseases from which men suffer are 
undoubtedly the result of their own Karma," that is of 
their actions in previous and unremembered existences. 
"It is," pursues Markandeya, " the immemorial tradi- 
tion l that the soul is eternal and everlasting, but the 
corporeal frame of all creatures is subject to destruc- 
tion here (below). When, therefore, life is extinguished 
the body only is destroyed, but the spirit, wedded to 
its actions, travels elsewhere." It inhabits innumer- 
able bodies in succession, it lives countless lives, it 
passes through the infernal regions, it attains to the 
heaven of the gods ; and, after untold woes and in- 

1 This appeal to tradition from a sage who had actually wit- 
nessed the destruction and recreation of the entire universe is 
rather straDge. 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 151 

finite struggles, is eventually re-absorbed in the divine 
essence from which it sprang. 1 

Turning from these episodes and mystic specula- 
tions to the Pandavas themselves, we find that the 
ever- fair Draupadi having, by her perennial and fault- 
less beauty, aroused the passions of Jayadratha, Eajah 
of Sindhu, was artfully carried off by him during the 
temporary absence of her husbands ; but the ravisher 
was overtaken and suffered punishment at the hands 
of the ardent Bhirua, who, after inflicting severe 
bodily chastisement upon the defeated Rajah, cut off 
his hair, all except five locks, and made him confess 
himself the slave of the Pandavas. At the request of 
Yudhisthira, backed by generous Draupadi, Jayadratha 
was released. 

This abduction and rescue recalled to the mind of 



1 "With important differences and limitations the modern 
doctrine of heredity may be regarded as the scientific analogue 
of the Hindu doctrine of Karma. One, however, is based on 
indisputable facts, the other on pure fancy. But whatever 
their merits or shortcomings, whatever the bases of truth or 
reasonableness on which they rest, neither the one doctrine 
nor the other can, unfortunately, afford a rational mind any 
consolation for the ills and apparent injustice of the present 
life; and, assuredly, neither the one nor the other can supply 
any stimulus towards the performance of good actions. A small 
class of persons in Europe seem to have become profoundly 
enamoured of the subtle ideas which underlie the doctrine of 
Karma; but he must be strangely constituted whose sense of 
justice can be satisfied, or who can derive any comfort in his 
present struggle against the evils of life, from the thought that 
he is suffering the consequences of deeds done by his soul in 
previous and unremembered existences, or can be induced to 
make for righteousness by the reflection that, after his physical 
death, the happiness of some other being, possibly a cat, into 
which his soul transmigrate?, will be influenced by his deeds in 
the present life. But, at the same time, it may be admitted that 
the doctrine of Karma may certainly, in the case of some races, 
conduce towards a helpless and hopeless resignation, counterfeit- 
ing contentment. 



152 THE MAHABHARATA 

Markandeya the story of Kama and Sita, which he 
proceeded to relate, at considerable length, for the 
edification of the Pandavas. The sage also recounted 
the story of Savitri, more charming than that of 
Orpheus and Eurydice. How the lovely Savitri set 
her affections upon young Satyavan, the only son of 
the blind Dyumatsena, ex-king of the Salwas ; how 
she learned from the lips of the celestial sage Narada, 
that the beautiful youth was fated to die within a 
year ; how notwithstanding this secret knowledge she 
willingly linked her lot with his ; and how, when the 
inevitable hour arrived, and the doom of fate was 
accomplished in the lonely forest, her austere piety 
and devoted love enabled her to follow Yama, on and 
on with fearless footsteps and touching entreaties, as 
he conveyed away her dear husband's spirit to the 
Land of Shades, and at last to prevail upon the dread 
deity to restore to her the soul of her Satyavan. 

" Adieu, great Grod ! " She took the soul, 

No bigger than the human thumb, 
And running swift, soon reached her goal, 

Where lay the body stark and dumb. 
She lifted it with eager hands 

And as before, when he expired, 
She placed the head upon the bands 

That bound her breast, which hope new fired, 
And which alternate rose and fell ; 

Then placed his soul upon his heart, 
Whence like a bee it found its cell, 

And lo, he woke with sudden start ! 
His breath came low at first, then deep, 

With an unquiet look he gazed, 
As one awaking from a sleep, 

Wholly bewildered and amazed." 1 

1 From " Ballads and Legends of Hindustan," by Miss Toru 
Dutt, the gifted Bengali girl, whose premature death in 1877, at 
the early age of twenty- one years, caused a sad loss to India. 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 153 

Of the doings of the Kauravas, during the twelve 
years that we have been following the fortunes of 
their cousins, little is recorded, and that little is not 
to their credit. Knowing full well where the Pandavas 
were passing their term of exile in the forests, Duryod- 
hana, upon the advice of Kama, went thither in great 
state with a view of meanly feasting his eyes upon the 
wretchedness of his hated kinsmen, and of intensifying 
their misery by the cruel contrast between his own 
grandeur and their destitution. This was the real, if 
unworthy, motive of the journey to the forest of Kam- 
yaka ; the alleged reason was to inspect the royal 
cattle-stations in order to count the stock and mark 
the calves. 1 Attended by his courtiers, by thousands 
of ladies belonging to the royal household, and by a 
great army of followers and soldiers, Duryodhana pro- 
ceeded towards the sylvan abode of the Pandavas ; 
but his advance guard was refused admission into 
the forests by the Gandharvas, whose king had come 
with his celestial hosts and several tribes of Apsaras 
to have a merry time in those woods. As neither 
party would abate a jot of its pretensions, a terrible 
battle ensued, resulting in the complete defeat of the 
Kauravas, the ignominious flight of the redoubtable 
Kama, and the capture, by the victorious enemy, of 
Duryodhana himself, his court, and all his harem. 

In this extremity the beaten followers of the captive 
king fled for help to the Pandavas. For the sake of 
the honour of the family, and particularly for the 
protection of the ladies of their house, Arjuna and 
Bhima, with the twins came, by the magnanimous 
command of Yudhisthira, to the rescue of their kins- 
men; and, after performing feats of war which none 
but an Indian poet could imagine, obtained the re- 
lease of the crestfallen Duryodhana, whose bitterness 

1 Here we have a glimpse of the simple life of those primitive 
times. 



154 THE MAHABHARATA 

against his cousins was only increased by this hu- 
miliating and never-to-be-forgotten incident. 

Stung to the quick by the intolerable mortification 
of his position, Duryodhana, in despair, resolved to 
give up his kingdom and his life. To the remon- 
strances of his friends, he answered : "I have nothing 
more to do with virtue, wealth, friendship, affluence, 
sovereignty and enjoyment. Do not obstruct my 
purpose, but leave me, all of you. I am firmly re- 
solved to cast away my life by foregoing food. Keturn 
to the city and treat my superiors there respectfully." 
He might have fallen upon his own sword; but the 
Hindu hero elects to die otherwise. " And the son of 
Dhritarashtra, in accordance with his purpose, spread 
kuca grass on the earth, and purifying himself by 
touching water sat down upon that spot. And, clad 
in rags and kuga grass, he set himself to observe the 
highest vow. And stopping all speech, that tiger 
among kings, moved by the desire of going to heaven, 
began to pray and worship internally, suspending all 
external intercourse." 

However, this meditated suicide was not fated to be 
accomplished. The Daityas and Danavas interfered, 
" knowing that if the king died, their party would be 
weakened." By means of certain rites and sacrifices 
they called into being " a strange goddess with mouth 
wide open," who carried Duryodhana into their pre- 
sence at night. The Daityas and Danavas explained 
to the dejected king that he was of more than human 
origin, and their especial ally. They undertook to 
help him in his struggles with the Pandavas, and 
promised him a complete triumph over his rivals. 
Cheered by these assurances, the would-be suicide 
abandoned his purpose, resumed his royal position 
and, emulating the Pandavas, performed a great and 
costly sacrifice, known as the Vaishnava. To this 
important rite Duryodhana insultingly invited his 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 155 

cousins, who prudently declined the invitation on the 
plea that the period of their exile was not yet com- 
pleted. 

Notwithstanding the recent defeat of Kama by the 
Gandharvas, and his precipitate flight from the field 
of battle, there seems to have been a lurking dread 
of his prowess amongst the friends of the Pandavas. 
Indra, the god of heaven, determined therefore to 
render him less formidable, by depriving him of his 
native coat of golden mail and the celestial ear-rings 
with which he was born. For this purpose he pre- 
sented himself before Kama in the guise of a Brahman, 
and asked him for his armour and ear-rings. Now 
Kama had made a vow never to refuse anything to 
a Brahman, and was thus placed on the horns of a 
cruel dilemma. However, he had been forewarned by 
his own father, the sun-god, of Indra's intentions, 
and had been advised to ask for an infallible weapon 
in exchange for his armour and ear-rings. Kecog- 
nizing the god of heaven under his Brahmanical dis- 
guise, Kama preferred his request, which was granted 
with conditions which made it almost nugatory. 
Kama peeled off his natural armour, which act, by 
Indra's favour, left no scar upon his person. " And 
Sakra (Indra)," says the poet, " having thus beguiled 
Kama, but made him famous in the world thought, 
with a smile, that the business of the sons of Pandu 
had already been completed." The Pandavas were 
naturally elated, and the Kauravas depressed, when 
the news of these events reached them. Though the 
sons of Pandu had received repeated assurances that 
they would ultimately triumph over their enemies, 
they were, it seems, subject to frequent fits of some- 
what unreasonable depression ; so Vyasa, ever devoted 
to the interests of the heroes, visited them in their 
forest-home, and consoled Yudhisthira once more by 
the prediction that, after the thirteenth year of exile 



156 THE MAHABHARATA 

had expired, be would regain his kingdom and his 
influence in the world. 

The twelfth year of exile was now drawing to a 
close; the thirteenth year, it will be remembered, 
was to be passed by the Pandavas in disguise in some 
city or other. Their last experience in the woods was 
as wonderful as any they had previously gone through. 
A wild stag carried away on its branching antlers the 
sticks with which a Brahman ascetic was wont to 
kindle his fire. The five brothers were appealed to 
by the hermit in his trouble, and pursued the animal, 
but could neither kill it nor run it down. Overcome 
with fatigue and thirst they sat down to take rest. 
One climbed a tree to look out for signs of water, and 
having discovered them, Nakula was sent to fetch 
water for the party. Not far away he found a pleasant 
pond, but was warned by the commanding voice of 
some unseen being not to touch the water. He was 
too thirsty to give heed to the injunction and, pro- 
ceeding to drink of the crystal spring, fell down dead. 
Wondering at Nakula's prolonged absence, Sahadeva 
set out to look for him and, coming upon the pond, 
heard the warning voice. He, too, disregarded it, and 
suffered the same penalty as his brother had done. 
Arjuna and Bhima in turn went through the same 
experiences with the same sad result. At last the 
wise Yudhisthira came upon the scene ; he prudently 
refrained from touching the water when warned 
against doing so, and entered into conversation with 
the aerial voice, which now took an embodied form, 
— that of a mighty Yaksha. This being of terrible 
aspect, interrogated the king upon a number of im- 
portant points, and receiving satisfactory answers, 1 

1 A few of the questions put and answers given on this occa- 
sion may afford some insight into Indian modes of thought. 

Q. "What is it that maketh the sun rise? Who keep him 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 157 

revealed himself to Yudhisthira as his father, Dharma, 
god of justice. He then restored the dead Pandavas 
to life, and bestowed this boon upon them that, during 
the thirteenth year of their exile, if they even tra- 
velled over the entire earth in their proper forms, 
no one in the three worlds would be able to recognize 
them. 

The twelfth year was now nearly completed, and the 
brothers left the woods resolved to spend the next 
twelve months in the city of Virata, which seems to 
have been close at hand. Before entering the city 
they had to conceal their weapons in order to avoid 
detection (for they do not seem to have placed implicit 
confidence in the boon granted by Dharma). Just 
outside the city they came upon a cemetery with a 

company ? Who causeth him to set ? In whom is he 
established ? 

A. Brahma maketh the sun rise : the gods keep him com- 
pany : Dharma causeth him to set : and he is estab- 
lished in truth. 

Q. What is that which doth not close its eyes while asleep? 
What is that which doth not move after birth ? 
What is that without a heart? And what is that 
which swells with its own our impetus ? 

A. A fish doth not close its eyes while asleep : an egg doth 
not move after birth : a stone is without a heart : a 
river swelleth with its own impetus. 

Q. What constitutes the way? What hath been spoken of as 
water ? What as food ? And what as poison ? 

A. They that are good constitute the way : space has been 
spoken of as water : the cow is food : a request is 
poison. 

[To this answer the translator, Babu P. C. Eoy, appends the 
following notes among others. " The crutis speak of the cow as 
the only food, in the following sense. The cow gives milk. The 
milk gives butter. The butter is used in Soma. The Homa is 
the cause of the clouds. The clouds give rain. The rain makes 
the seeds to sprout forth and produce food. Nilakantha en- 
deavours to explain this in a spiritual sense. There is, however, 
no need of such explanation here."] 



158 THE MAHABHARATA 

gigantic Sami tree. To the topmost boughs of this 
tree they fastened their weapons. They also hung a 
corpse on the tree that people might avoid it. This 
action of theirs was evidently noticed, for the poet 
tells us that, on being asked by the shepherds and 
" cowherds regarding the corpse, those repressors of 
foes said unto them, ' This is our mother, aged one 
hundred and eighty years. We have hung up her 
dead body, in accordance with the custom observed by 
our forefathers.' " 

On the way Yudhisthira, ever anxious for divine 
help, invoked the goddess Durga in terms which reveal 
at once the attributes of the goddess and the Hindu 
poet's idea of the most suitable expressions to be 
employed in addressing a female divinity. " Saluta- 
tions to thee, giver of boons. . . . Salutations to 
thee, thou of four hands and four faces, thou of 
fair round hips and deep bosom, thou that wearest 
bangles made of emeralds and sapphires, thou that 
bearest excellent braces on thy upper arm. . . . Thou 
art the only female in the universe that possessest 
the attribute of purity. Thou art decked with a pair 
of well-made ears graced with excellent rings. 
goddess thou shinest with a face that challengeth the 
moon in beauty ! With an excellent diadem and 
beautiful braid, with robes made of the bodies of 
snakes, and with also the brilliant girdle round thy 
hips thou shinest like the Mandara Mountain encircled 
with snakes ! Thou shinest also with peacock-plumes 
standing erect on thy head, and thou hast sanctified 
the celestial regions by adopting the vow of perpetual 
maidenhood. It is for this, thou that hast slain the 
Buffalo- Asura, that thou art praised and worshipped 
by the gods for the protection of the three worlds ! 
thou foremost of all deities, extend to me thy grace, 
show me thy mercy and be thou the source of blessings 
to me ! Thou art Java and Vijaya, and it is thou that 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 159 

givest victory in battle ! Grant me victory, goddess, 
and give me boons also at this hour of distress. Thy 
eternal abode is on Yindhya, that foremost of moun- 
tains, Kali ! Kali thou art the great Kali, ever 
fond of wine and meat and animal sacrifice. Capable 
of going everywhere at will and bestowing boons on 
thy devotees, thou art ever followed in thy journeys 
by Brahma and the other gods," : etc., etc. 

"Thus praised by the son of Pandu, the goddess 
showed herself unto him," and promised the exiles 
that, through her grace, they would remain unrecog- 
nized, either by the Kurava spies or the inhabitants 
of the city, as long as they resided in Virata. 

Under such favourable auspices and protection, the 
Pandavas and their joint-wife entered Virata. Yud- 
histhira presented himself before the Eajah, and was 
engaged as a companion and teacher of dice-playing, 
in which art, as the reader will remember, he received 
special instruction from a Rishi in the woods of Kam- 
yaka. Bhima was taken on as superintendent of the 
cooks, being it seems especially clever in preparing 
curries. Arjuna, who personated a eunuch, was ap- 
pointed music and dancing master to the ladies, 
having learned those accomplishments in Indra's 
heaven. Nakula was taken on as master of the horse, 
and Sahadeva, who was skilled in milking and manag- 
ing kine, as superintendent of the cattle. Draupadi 
professed to be a Savrindhri, or maid-servant, ready to 
serve anybody who would maintain her. The queen 
chanced to see Draupadi and took her into her service, 
although she felt and expressed some reluctance to 
have about her person a woman of such an attractive 
appearance. The Bani apparently had her suspicions 

1 This sudden and rather unartistic introduction of the goddess 
Kali, unmentioned before, looks very much like a clumsy addi- 
tion to the epic made at a comparatively modern date in the in- 
terests of the later developments of Hinduism. 



160 THE MAHABHARATA 

about Draupadi, to whom she candidly expressed her 
opinion that she was too beautiful to be a servant, 
"for," said she, "your heels are not prominent 
and your thighs touch one another. And your 
intelligence is great, and your navel deep, and your 
words solemn. And your great toes, and bust, and 
hips, and toe-nails, and palms, are all well developed/' 
The Eani also naively added: "What man will be 
able to resist thy attractions ? Surely, thou of 
well-rounded hips, damsel of exquisite charms, 
beholding thy form of superhuman beauty, King 
Virata is sure to forsake me and will turn to thee with 
his whole heart." But the fair wife of the five Pan- 
davas seems to have allayed the Rani's natural 
jealousy and fear, by assuring her that she was 
watched over by Gandharvas, and that if anyone 
attempted to make improper advances to her the 
Gandharvas would put an end to him. However, the 
Rani's anxiety was fully justified by after events. Her 
brother, Kechaka, smitten with the charms of the new 
maid-servant, prevailed upon his sister, by his im- 
portunities, to send Draupadi to his house on the 
pretext of fetching some wine from his stock. Drau- 
padi went as directed to the house of the Rani's 
brother; but, on his making insulting proposals to 
her, she made her escape from him, and fled direct to 
the king's council chamber, followed by the baflied 
and enraged Kechaka, who seized her by the hair of 
her head before the assembled courtiers and shame- 
fully kicked the beautiful lady in the presence of the 
king and his attendants. The Rajah would not inter- 
fere, and Bhima, who was present l and boiling with 
suppressed indignation, was restrained by the command 
of his elder brother from taking notice of the affair. 
But Draupadi was not to be pacified. Bent on having 

1 The cook in the council chamber ! This is a sample of the 
primitive ideas which underlie the epic. 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 161 

revenge, she went at dead of night to Bhiina, and 
heaped reproaches upon him and his brothers ; and 
well she might, for all the degrading insults she had 
had to endure while they looked tamely on. Between 
them they planned that Draupadi should pretend to 
yield to Kechaka's desires, and should appoint a secret 
meeting with him, when Bhima should be her sub- 
stitute, and kill the man who had insulted and ill- 
used her. The plan was successfully carried out. A 
terrible fight took place between Kechaka and Bhima. 
The latter at length slew his antagonist by whirling 
him swiftly round his head and dashing him against 
the ground. He then broke all his bones into small 
pieces, formed his body into a great ball of flesh, and 
brought Draupadi to behold the complete vengeance he 
had taken upon her hated persecutor. To wreak their 
malice on the person they believed to be the cause 
of Kechaka's death, his kinsmen seized Draupadi, " of 
faultless limbs," who was found leaning against a 
pillar hard by the scene of the grim revenge, and 
carried her off outside the city walls with the intention 
of burning her with the dead man's body. In her 
distress she cried aloud for help, and Bhima, in 
disguise, came to her rescue. Panic-stricken at the 
sight of this supposed Gandharva, the men who had 
assembled at the cremation ground fled for their lives, 
but were pursued by Bhima, who killed a great number 
of them. 

Of course this event created an immense sensation, 
and even the king feared to speak to Draupadi, while 
the Rani only ventured to ask her to leave Virata. But 
Draupadi begged permission to stay just a few days 
longer, assuring the Rani that her Gandharva husbands 
would yet be of great service to the king. Shortly 
after the occurrences just related, and as a consequence 
of the death of Kechaka, who was a man of great note 
and generalissimo of Rajah Virata's forces, Sucarman, 

M 



162 THE MAHABHARATA 

King of the Tregartas, an old enemy of Virata's, think- 
ing it a favourable opportunity, proposed a raid into 
his territory for the purpose of plunder. The Kauravas 
willingly agreed to make a separate but simultaneous 
attack upon their neighbour. When intelligence of 
the inroad into his territory reached Virata, he hastened 
to repel the invasion, taking in his train his servants 
Yudhisthira,Bhima, Nakula, and Sahadeva, who volun- 
teered to fight for him. The Tregartas and Matsyas 
soon came into conflict, and Virata was, after a bloody 
fight, taken captive by Sucarman, but was rescued by 
the Pandavas who, as usual, performed prodigies of 
valour. 

Meanwhile the Kauravas made an unexpected attack 
in another direction and began carrying off the royal 
herds. There was no one at the capital who could go 
out to oppose them — the troops being all away with the 
king — but the king's son, Uttara, ventured out against 
the invaders with only Arjuna as his charioteer. At 
sight of the forces arrayed against him and the mighty 
heroes who led them, Uttara's courage failed him, and 
leaping off his chariot he fled from the field, but was 
brought back by Arjuna who, directing him to take 
the reins, boldly resolved to give battle to the enemy. 
After providing himself with the famous and deadly 
weapons he had concealed a year previously in the 
Sami tree near the cemetery, he went out alone, with 
Uttara as his charioteer, to attack the Kaurava host. 
All the redoubtable heroes of the party were present 
that day. Old Bhisma the terrible, and well-skilled 
Drona with his mighty son Acwathaman, and Kripa 
and Kama the famous offspring of Kunti and the day- 
god. There too, arrayed in all the glittering panoply 
of war, were the formidable Duryodhana and his 
brother Duscasana, with the other proud princes of 
Dhritarashtra's race. But Arjuna alone, armed with 
his wonderful bow, Gandiva, completely defeated them 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT AVAR 163 

all in one of those incomprehensible battles which 
delight the Hindu bard but bewilder the European 
reader. In the unfortunate rank and file of the 
Kaurava host the slaughter caused by Arjuna was 
prodigious ; but not a single one of the leading heroes 
engaged in conflict that day was killed, or even 
seriously incommoded — although each of them, in- 
cluding Arjuna himself, was pierced by scores of 
deadly arrows. 

The defeated Kauravas, of course, recognized their 
conqueror ; but the stipulated period of exile was now 
fully completed, and the enforced truce was at an end. 

Rajah Virata, now enlightened as to the names and 
proper rank of the Pandavas, engaged to assist them 
in regaining their Raj ; though, after recent events, it 
is hard to comprehend what assistance such heroes 
could want from Virata, or anyone else. To cement 
the alliance between his royal house and that of the 
Pandavas, Virata offered his lovely daughter, Uttara, 
in marriage to Arjuna. That hero, however, had been 
the fair damsel's dancing-master and on intimate 
terms with her in the harem. He, therefore, with fine 
delicacy of sentiment, declined the offer, lest suspicions 
injurious to the lady's reputation might be whispered 
about ; but, to attest her fair fame in the most con- 
clusive and impressive way, he accepted her hand for 
his son, Abhimanyu, to whom she was duly married in 
the presence of an assembly of kings invited for the 
occasion, including Krishna, who came attended by a 
" hundred millions of horse and a hundred billions of 
foot-soldiers." 

A resort to the final arbitrament of battle seemed 
inevitable, and warlike preparations were vigorously 
pushed on by both parties, who despatched their en- 
voys in all directions, requesting the assistance of their 
friends and allies. Krishna had returned to Dwarka 
after the marriage festivities at Panchala. Both sides 



164 THE MAHABHARATA 

anxiously sought his alliance. Duryodhana and Ar- 
juna posted in hot haste to Dwarka to secure the aid 
of the mighty Prince of the Vreshnis, and both of 
them arrived simultaneously at Krishna's abode while 
he was asleep. As privileged kinsmen they entered 
his bed-chamber and placed themselves near his bed, 
Duryodhana at the head and Arjuna at the foot, but 
did not dare to disturb him. As soon as Krishna 
awoke from his slumber the two chieftains eagerly 
claimed his help. As he was equally related to both 
he desired to divide his favours between them. He 
placed himself, but strictly as a non-combatant, on 
one side, and, on the other, his army of a hundred 
million soldiers, and offered Arjuna, as he had seen 
him first upon awakening, the choice between the 
two. Without any hesitation Arjuna chose Krishna 
himself, leaving the mighty army of one hundred 
millions to swell the ranks of Duryodhana's host. 

But before having recourse to arms one party at 
least deemed it expedient to endeavour to effect a 
reconciliation by negotiations; and it takes one's 
breath away with astonishment to find the mighty 
Pandava heroes — after all the gross indignities they 
had suffered, after the outrageous insults to which 
their joint-wife had been exposed, and after their 
terrible vows of vengeance publicly uttered — tamely 
proposing to make peace with their arrogant cousins 
on condition of having nothing more than Jive villages 
assigned to them. All this, too, in the face of Drau- 
padi's bitter and indignant taunts. However, even 
this humble offer of theirs was scornfully rejected by 
Duryodhana. But the Pandavas, even Bhima and 
Arjuna, being still anxious to avoid shedding the 
blood of their kinsfolk, Krishna undertook to act as 
their ambassador, and in this capacity presented him- 
self at the capital of Dhritarashtra. His reception 
was of the most magnificent kind, and his mission 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 165 

was attended by many supernatural events. When 
the princes and great officers of State were assembled 
in solemn conclave to consider Krishna's proposals, a 
number of Brahman sages appeared in the sky, and 
were respectfully invited to come down and take part 
in the deliberations of the assembly, an invitation 
they readily accepted. A prolonged sitting of trie 
council took place, during which many speeches, em- 
bellished with instructive stories of olden times, were 
made in order to induce Duryodhana to come to 
terms with the Pandavas. Advice was, however, 
thrown away upon the haughty and obstinate prince, 
who left the chamber in great indignation. 

Krishna, seeing that Duryodhana was bent on 
pushing matters to extremities, expressed an opinion 
that the best course for the old Maharajah to pursue 
would be to seize the young prince and his abettors 
and make them over to the Pandavas. He argued 
that "For the sake of a family an individual may 
be sacrificed ; for the sake of a village a family may 
be sacrificed ; for the sake of a province a village may 
be sacrificed ; and, lastly, for the sake of one's self the 
whole earth may be sacrificed ; " and concluded with 
this exhortation : "0 monarch, binding Duryodhana 
fast, make peace with the Pandavas. bull among 
Kshatriyas let not the whole Kshatriya race be 
slaughtered on thy account." This proposal being 
secretly communicated to Duryodhana, he in turn 
plotted to seize and confine Krishna, but his plan 
was discovered by that monarch. Now, as the reader 
is aware, Krishna was no mere mortal, but an incar- 
nation of the Supreme Being. Addressing the prince 
the next time they met, he said : 

"From delusion, Duryodhana, thou regardest me 
to be alone, and it is for this, thou of little under- 
standing, that thou seekest to make me a captive 
after vanquishing me with violence. Here, however, 



166 THE MAHABHARATA 

are all Pandavas and all the Vrishnis and Andhakas. 
Here are all the Adityas, the Kudras, and the Vasus 
with all the great Eishis. Saying this, Kecava 
(Krishna), that slayer of hostile heroes, burst out 
into loud laughter. And as the high-souled Cawri 
laughed, from his body, that resembled a blazing fire, 
issued myriads of gods, each of lightning effulgence 
and not bigger than the thumb ! And on his fore- 
head appeared Brahma, and on his breast Kudra. 
And on his arms appeared the regents of the world, 
and from his mouth issued Agni, the Adityas, the 
Saddhyas, the Vasus, the Acwins, the Maruts, with 
Indra and the Vicwedevas. And myriads of Yakshas 
and Gandharvas, and Eakshasas also, of the same 
measure and form, issued thence. And from his two 
arms issued Sankarshana and Dhananjaya. And 
Arjuna stood on his right, bow in hand, and Eama 
stood on his left, armed with the plough. And behind 
him stood Bhima and Yudhisthira, and the two sons 
of Madri, and before him were all the Andhakas and 
the Vrishnis, with Praddyumna and other chiefs 
bearing mighty weapons upraised. And on his di- 
verse arms were seen the conch, the discus, the mace, 
the bow called Caruga, the plough, the javelin, the 
Nandaka, and every other weapon, all shining with 
effulgence and upraised for striking. And from his 
eyes and nose and ears, and every part of his body, 
issued fierce sparks of fire mixed with smoke." All, 
except a few privileged ones, closed their eyes, unable 
to bear the splendour of this divine manifestation, 
which was attended with an earthquake, celestial 
music, and a shower of heavenly flowers. 

After this amazing display of his personality as the 
very embodiment of all the gods, Krishna, resuming 
his human form, left the hall leaning on the arms of 
two of his kinsmen. The perverse Duryodhana, how- 
ever, regarded this exhibition of Krishna's godhood 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 167 

as a mere illusion — a clever conjuror's trick ' — and, 
doomed to destruction as he was, treated it with con- 
temptuous disregard. 

The envoy's mission having thus failed, he pre- 
pared for an immediate return to his friends. Before 
setting out he paid a friendly visit to his aunt Kunti, 
the mother of the Pandavas ; and, as a last piece of 
diplomacy, artfully endeavoured to detach Kama from 
Duryodhana's party. He disclosed to the famous 
bowman that he was Kunti's son and, therefore, 
morally, a son of Pandu ; since, according to the 
scriptures, sons "born of a maiden have him for 
their father who weddeth the maiden." According 
to this system of paternity, Kama was not only 
Pandu's son, but the elder brother of Yudhisthira ; 
and, as such, entitled to the headship of the Pandava 
family, to the sovereignty of Hastinapur, and to su- 
premacy over the kings of the whole earth. Krishna 
represented this aspect of the matter to Kama in the 
most tempting manner possible, not failing to mention 
that, if he joined his brothers, the fair Draupadi would 
be his wife too. But he, who had thus far gone through 
life known as the humble Suta's son, had the manli- 
ness to treat these offers and suggestions of the divine 
Prince of Dwarka with proud indifference, adhering 
with unshaken loyalty to his friend Duryodhana, and 
the party with which he had been so long associated. 
The crafty Krishna then urged the absolute certainty 
of the complete success of the Pandavas in the contest 
which was approaching ; but no cowardly fears dis- 
turbed the settled resolution of the hero, who, as he 
said, was pledged to meet Arjuna in the field of battle 
and would not, even if sure destruction awaited him- 
self, withdraw from his obligations or shirk his obvious 
duty to the Kauravas. 

1 " Mahabharata Udyoga Parva," section clx. 



168 THE MAHABHARATA 

Kunti herself next made an effort to win over 
Kama to the side of the Pandavas. For this purpose 
she stealthily followed him to the banks of the Ganges 
and stood silently behind him while he piously per- 
formed his devotions. When he discovered her, and 
respectfully inquired the object of her presence there, 
she disclosed to him the secret of his parentage, and 
with well-chosen arguments urged him to join his 
brothers. An affectionate voice issuing from the sun, 
the voice of Surya himself, confirmed the statements 
and supported the advice of KuntL But Kama, 
" firmly devoted to truth, " even though thus solicited 
by both his parents, protested his determination to 
remain firmly faithful to the cause of his friends. 
He gently reproached his mother for her abandon- 
ment of him in his infancy and her subsequent neglect 
of her maternal duties, but, with noble generosity, he 
made an important concession in favour of the Pan- 
davas. "I will not speak deceitfully unto thee;" 
said the hero, " For the sake of Dhritarashtra's son I 
shall fight with thy sons to the best of my strength 
and might ! I must not, however, abandon kindness 
and the conduct that becometh the good. Thy words, 
therefore, however beneficial, cannot be obeyed by me 
now. This thy solicitation to me will not yet be 
fruitless. Except Arjuna, thy other sons — Yudhisthira, 
Bhima, and the twins, though capable of being with- 
stood by me in fight, and capable also of being slain — 
shall not yet be slain by me." Thus did the mag- 
nanimous Kama worthily close one of the most in- 
teresting incidents in the great epic. 

War was now inevitable. Krishna returned to 
Yudhisthira, and both parties prepared to join issue 
on the famous field of Kurukshetra. 1 

1 " The plain of Kurukshetra," says Mr. Talboys Wheeler,'' is 
generally identified with the field of Panipat, which lies to the 
north-west of the modern city of Delhi. This plain is famous in 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 169 

The Pandavas gave the supreme command of their 
forces to Dhrista-dyumna who, as the reader will 
remember, was the destined slayer of Drona. The 
Kauravas marshalled their cohorts under the leader- 
ship of the terrible Bhisma. This ancient chief had 
performed mighty deeds in his day ; and proudly re- 
counted, in the camp at Kurukshetra, his terrible and 
successful duel with Kama, the son of Jamadagni, 
a hero who had, single-handed, vanquished all the 
Kshatriyas of the earth. 

The old man's end was, however, approaching, and 
he himself was well aware that he must fall by the 
hand of one Cikhandin, an ally of the Pandavas, since 
that prince in a previous existence (being then a 
woman, the Princess Amba (page 107), and subjected 
to great humiliations through Bhisma's conduct) 
had undergone the most dreadful austerities for the 
express purpose of compassing his destruction, and, 
by the favour of Siva, would succeed in so doing. 

Both parties with their armies and their allies 
marched to and encamped upon the famous battle- 
modern history as being the site of two of the greatest and most 
decisive battles that have been fought in modern times. It was 
here that Baber, in a.d. 1525, overthrew the Afghan rulers at 
Delhi and established the dynasty of the Moguls, and it was 
here in 1761 that Ahmad Shah Abdali, the Sovereign of Cabul, 
inflicted such a crushing blow upon the Mahrattas as indi- 
rectly cleared the way for the establishment of British supre- 
macy." — Note to Wheeler's "History of India," vol. i., p. 272. 
The identification of Panipat with Kurukshetra in the above 
passage is incorrect, and probably led to the disappointment ex- 
perienced by Sir Edwin Arnold when he visited Panipat and found 
that the inhabitants of the place were ignorant of the history of 
Kurukshetra and its precise position (see his " India Eevisited," 
p. 193). It is near Thanesar and not Panipat that the Brahmans 
find Kurukshetra, and the various incidents of the old story are 
associated with many spots in that locality. In Chapter III., 
entitled " The Sacred Land," I have given some account of the 
modern aspects of Kurukshetra. 



170 THE MAHABHARATA 

field. The Pandavas had seven and the Kauravas 
eleven akshauhinis of soldiers on the ground, making 
a total of eighteen akshauhinis in all. Now an ak- 
shauhjni consisted of 21,870 chariots, 21,870 elephants, 
109,350 foot-soldiers, and 65,610 cavalry ; so that 
there were at Kurukshetra altogether 393,660 chariots 
with their fighting men, drivers, and horses ; 393,660 
elephants with their drivers and riders ; 1,968,300 
foot-soldiers, and 1,180,980 cavalry. 1 All this, of 
course, exclusive of camp followers — a mighty host 
in themselves; for we learn that there were crowds 
of artisans of all sorts, also bards, singers, panegyrists, 
venders, traders, and prostitutes ; besides surgeons, 
physicians, spies, and spectators — all housed and pro- 
vided for by the chiefs. 

The commissariat arrangements were necessarily 
on a gigantic scale, and the arsenals in proportion to 
the mighty hosts assembled for mutual destruction on 
that famous battle-field. The leading heroes had 
their own peculiar weapons, often of celestial origin 
or possessed of magic properties, and their own in- 
exhaustible quivers of wondrous arrows. For the rank 
and file there were heaps, as high as little hills, of 
bows and bowstrings, coats of mail and weapons of 
every kind ; such as battle-axes, lances, poisoned darts, 
scimitars, nooses, and lassoes. There was also an 

1 These are large numbers indeed, but the poet does not limit 
himself to them, and in one of his flights of imagination speaks 
of a hundred millions of warriors having been slain in ten days 
by a single hero (" Bhisma Parva," section xiv.). In another 
moment of inspiration he places " a hundred millions and twenty 
thousand" cars in a certain strategical position on the field 
(" Bhisma Parva," section 1.). There is, in the " Mahabharata " 
generally, an affectation of precision in regard to numbers, 
as when the narrator informs us that such a one was hit with 
three arrows, another with four, and a third with semi; but 
there is no attemptto preserve consistency, and,whenever the bard 
is so disposed, he revels without scruple in the biggest figures 
imaginable. 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 171 

ample supply of hot oil, treacle and sand to be thrown 
upon the enemy, and a store of inflammable materials, 
such as pulverized lac. And, lastly, there was a col- 
lection of earthen pots filled with deadly serpents, 
designed to cause confusion in the ranks amidst which 
they might be cast. 

Before hostilities actually commenced Duryodhana 
sent a message to the camp of thePandavas, challeng- 
ing them to the fight, and scornfully reminded them 
of the ruany gross insults and humiliating indignities 
they had had to endure at his hands. He sent an 
especially insulting message and challenge to Krishna, 
making light of his prowess and former achievements. 
Vaunting and blood-thirsty rejoinders of a suitable 
kind were, of course, carried back from the insulted 
Pandavas to Duryodhana and the leaders of his 
armies. 

Before joining issue it was arranged between the 
hostile parties that only " persons equally circum- 
stanced should encounter each other, fighting fairly ; " 
that car-warriors should engage car-warriors ; those 
on elephants should fight those similarly mounted ; 
that horsemen should encounter horsemen, and foot- 
soldiers foot-soldiers. It was agreed that no one 
should strike a disarmed, a panic-stricken, or retreat- 
ing foeman ; that no blow should be given without 
due notice, and that stragglers, charioteers, and 
chariot-horses, and drummers, with a host of others, 
were not to be assailed on any account. It is almost 
needless to say that in the succession of battles which 
took place at Kurukshetra these generous covenants 
were never observed. They seem, indeed, to have been 
only a formal and somewhat farcical preliminary, 
drawn up in accordance, possibly, w T ith some ideal 
but inoperative code of Kshatriya honour. 

While the hosts were assembling Yyasa presented 
himself before King Dhritarashtra and offered to re- 



172 THE MAHABHARATA 

store the blind old king's eyesight, but Dhritarashtra, 
unwilling to behold the bloodshed of his kinsfolk, 
declined the proffered boon, preferring that his cha- 
rioteer, Sanjaya, should be enabled by the Eishi's 
favour to survey any portion, however remote, of the 
field of battle, and relate all the events to him in the 
minutest and most circumstantial detail. 

As preparations for the approaching contest were 
pushed on many strange portents occurred. A shower 
of flesh and blood fell from the skies. Unusual solar 
and lunar eclipses took place. Earthquakes shook 
both land and ocean, and rivers were turned into 
blood. Revolting acts of immorality were being com- 
monly committed. Some women were giving birth to 
five daughters at a time, who, as soon as they were 
born, began to dance and sing. Other women, as 
well as lower animals, were bringing forth strange 
monsters ; and, as Vyasa assured the blind king, 
" The images of gods and goddesses sometimes laughed 
and sometimes trembled, sometimes vomited blood 
and sometimes fell down." l 

After Yyasa had gone away the blind king remarked 
to Sanjaya that, since " many hundreds of millions of 
heroic men" had assembled at Kurukshetra, he de- 
sired to know all about the countries from which they 
had come, for there were many nationalities repre- 
sented in the two armies. Sanjaya, having been 
endowed with superhuman perception by the Eishi 
Vyasa, gave his master, the king, a long lesson in geo- 
graphy, which it is rather disappointing to find so largely 
mythical as to be of little value, except perhaps as an 
indication of the very imperfect geographical know- 
ledge possessed by the authors of the " Mahabharata." 

1 Here is a reference to the images of gods and goddesses ex- 
isting at the period of the great war, which is both important 
and suggestive. They are also referred to again in section cxiii. 
of the " Bhisma Parva." 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 173 

Sanjaya's inspired description of the countries of the 
world abounds in mountains of gold and gems ; it 
embraces oceans of butter, milk, curds and wine ; and 
dwells upon such objects in nature as trees yielding 
fruits which measure 2,500 cubits in circumference. 
While revelling in these glories of sea and land, 
Sanjaya's descriptive narrative does not quite over- 
look th% causes of natural phenomena ; for he, no 
less than the modern scientist, has his own theory of 
the winds. It is, we learn from him, all due to " four 
princely elephants adored by all." These magnificent 
beasts, whose enormous proportions Sanjaya does not 
venture to calculate, seize with their lithe trunks the 
wandering winds and then breathe them over the 
earth. " The winds thus let out by those respiring 
elephants, come over the earth and, in consequence 
thereof, creatures draw breath and live." 

In the wonderful lands pictured by the inspired 
geographer, the men were necessarily long-lived. Some 
races, indeed, were exempt from death, and there were 
others whose lives extended to many thousands of 
years. In respect to their own land of Bharatavarsha, 
where the great battle was about to be fought, Sanjaya 
makes some statements w 7 hich seem worthy of note. 
He says, for example, after naming certain mountain 
ranges, that there are many " smaller mountains 
inhabited by barbarous tribes;" and he adds that 
" Aryas and Mlecchas, and many races mixed of the 
two elements, drink the waters of the following rivers, 
viz., magnificent Ganga, Sindhu, and Saraswati; of 
Godavari and Narmuda . . . and that large river 
called Yamuna," etc. 

At length the day of real battle arrived. The chiefs 
on both sides made their final preparations. With tall 
and handsome standards, borne conspicuously aloft, 1 

1 Bhisma's standard was a gold palmyra palm ; Drona's a 
golden altar ; Duryodhana's an elephant wrought in gems ; 



174 THE MAHABHARATA 

drums beating and conchs sounding, they took up 
their positions on the great plain. Kama alone held 
aloof from the contest, resolved to take no part in it 
while Bhisma lived, for he was smarting under some 
unbearable insults received from the aged leader of 
the Kauravas. 

As both armies drawn up for battle awaited the 
dawn, a dust storm arose which wrapped everything 
in darkness. When the air cleared and each party 
could see the other, as well as hear the blare of its 
trumpets, a sort of mutual dread seems to have 
afflicted them, for the warriors on either side trembled 
at the sight of the mighty heroes of the opposing 
hosts. 

At this critical juncture in the fate of the world, 
Arjuna, by the advice of Krishna, offered a special 
prayer for victory to Durga. The goddess in answer 
to this invocation appeared in the sky and assured 
her votary of complete success. 

As the virtuous Yudhisthira, his white umbrella 
borne above his head, moved about marshalling his 
forces, he was attended by a crowd of Brahmans and 
Bishis hymning his praises and praying for the de- 
struction of his enemies. Of course the pious king 
could do no less, even at such a busy and anxious 
moment, than bestow upon these saintly allies of his 
what, indeed, they, with their habitual proud con- 
descension, were there to receive, — rich presents of 
kine, ornaments, clothes and gold. 

When the armed millions were finally ranged for 
immediate hostilities, in all the pomp and glitter of 
approaching battle, Arjuna desired Krishna to place 
his chariot in the open space between the two armies. 
Surveying the embattled hosts from this position, 

Arjuna carried on his car a banner whereon was seated a 
gigantic ape. Each chief of note had his own distinguishing 
standard or banner. 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 175 

Arjuna appears to have been dismayed at the thought 
of the unparalleled slaughter of kinsmen, which a 
struggle between such colossal armies would inevitably 
lead to ; and, in view of this deplorable issue, hesitated 
to join battle with his foes, doubtful whether any per- 
sonal consideration whatever could justify an appeal 
to arms under such circumstances. 

Krishna undertook to remove his doubts, and suc- 
ceeded in doing so, the dialogue between them, known 
as the " Bhagavatgita/' or divine song, which is in- 
troduced into the great epic at this stage of the 
narrative, forming, from a religious point of view, one 
of its most important parts. 1 

When Arjuna, convinced of the lawfulness of enter- 
ing into the contest, had taken up his bow, Gandiva, 
in readiness for the fray, his followers raised a joyful 
shout, and the gods with the Gandharvas, the Eishis 
and the rest, crowded to the spot eager to witness the 
impending battle. 

But there was still another interruption. Yudhis- 
thira, suddenly laying down his arms and divesting 
himself of his armour, advanced eastward towards the 
opposing forces. Although filled with astonishment 
at this proceeding, his dutiful brothers immediately 
followed him, themselves unarmed and unprotected 
by armour. What was the mission the king had 
undertaken ? Was he bent on making a final effort 
to effect a reconciliation, or was he, terror-stricken by 
the superior numbers of his adversaries, going to offer 
an unconditional surrender ? No, it was neither the 
one object nor the other which stirred the heart of 
the virtuous king to this strange performance in pre- 
sence of the two armies drawn up for deadly strife. 

1 This famous dialogue is too long to be dealt with in this 
place and too important to be passed over altogether ; so I have 
appended a note on the subject, to which the reader's attention 
is invited. 



176 THE MAHABHARATA 

He, pious soul, was only going to crave the permission 
of his elders and preceptors in Dhritarashtra's army to 
engage in battle with them ; to solicit, with childlike 
trustfulness, their blessing in the coming contest with 
themselves ; and, if possible, to induce them to tell 
him how their own destruction might be compassed 
by him ! The leaders he went to propitiate, though 
resolved to fight to their utmost for the king whose 
cause they had espoused, were very affable to the 
pious son of Dharma ; they received him with affection 
and dismissed him with honour. The conduct of the 
Pandavas on this occasion excited universal admira- 
tion, and met with the hearty approval of all, and we 
learn that, " in consequence of this, the minds and 
hearts of everyone there were attracted towards them, 
and the Mlecchas and the Aryas l there, who witnessed 
or heard of that behaviour of the sons of Pandu, all 
wept with choked voices." 

The battle of Kurukshetra, which closed the golden 
age of India, lasted for eighteen consecutive days. 

During the first ten days Bhisma commanded 
Dhritarashtra's forces, while Kama held aloof in sullen 
indignation. A goodly volume is devoted to the in- 
cidents of these ten days, each of which seems to have 
had its own special heroes, who, under the influence 
of a sort of divine fury, like that attributed by the 
Norsemen to their Berserkers, carried everything 
before them. In picturing the events of these battles 
the Hindu bards have allowed their imaginations to 
run riot in a most incomprehensible way. Not only 
the demigods, but the merely human leaders (very 
little inferior to the demigods in martial qualities) in 
both armies, perform the most astonishing feats of 
arms, and display the most wonderful indifference to 

1 This allusion to the Mlecchas and Aryas fighting side by side 
is interesting and noteworthy. Later on, we shall have occasion 
to note the presence of Eakshasas also in either army. 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 177 

wounds. Sometimes a hero will shoot at his adversary 
arrows enough to envelop him completely and shroud 
him from view, or to darken the whole sky ; but his 
antagonist, well-skilled in the art of self-defence, will, 
with the greatest composure, stop those myriads of 
arrows l in mid-air with an equal or superior number 
of shafts from his own bow; 2 or, as Cikhandin did, 
cut in pieces with his dexterous sword the shower of 
arrows poured upon him. Sometimes a heavy mace, 
hurled by a powerful arm with well-directed aim, will 
whiz through the air towards some leader of men ; 
but as it is hurtling along it will be cut into many 
fragments by crescent-headed arrows discharged at it 
with unerring skill, by the hero for whose destruction 
it was intended. Sometimes standards are brought 
down by sharp arrows, sometimes the bow is severed 
in a warrior's hand by the shaft of an opponent, while 
horses and elephants, though cased in mail, fall easy 
victims to the archer's skill. Occasionally, in press- 
ing emergencies, superhuman weapons are called into 
requisition, and mantras or spells are employed to 
give them more destructive force. Nor are the powers 
of producing strange illusions to terrify or baffle the 
foe neglected by those who possess them, namely, the 
Eakshasas in either army. 3 These terrible beings, 
capable of assuming any shape at will, and able to 

1 Millions upon millions. Vide section cxv. of the " Bhisma 
Parva." 

2 " Then with a thousand arrows well shot, Pandu's son Arjuna, 
famed for his skill in battle, shrouded Bhisma on all sides. 
That arrowy net, however, of Partha, Bhisma the son of 
■Cantanu, baffled with an arrowy net (of his own) . . . And the 
successive flights of arrows shot from Bhisma's bow were seen 
to be dispersed by the shafts of Arjuna. And so the flights of 
.arrows shot by Arjuna, cut off by the arrows of Ganga's son, all 
fell down on the ground." — Bhisma Parva, section Hi. 

3 It is worthy of note that Eakshasas are present in both the 
Kaurava and Pandava armies. 

N 



178 THE MAHABHAEATA 

deceive their foes by strange illusions, would at one 
time raise up a spectral host of demons to terrify 
their opponents, and at another time, perhaps, para- 
lyze them by producing before their startled eyes a 
false picture of their friends and allies lying cruelly 
slaughtered around them, or in headlong flight before 
the enemy. 

Notwithstanding their inimitable skill in the arts of 
attack and defence the heroes do not get off unscathed. 
In a single fight one of them might be pierced with 
any number of arrows, from one or two to five hundred 
or a thousand ] as the case might be, yet, usually, the 
chiefs seem hardly the worse for the punishment. 
Indeed the poets love to depict their dauntless favour- 
ites bristling with arrows and streaming with blood, 
when they resemble in beauty blossoming kincukas in 
spring time, or " clouds tinged with the rays of the 
sun." One warrior with three arrows fixed in his 
forehead is likened to Mount Meru with its triple 
summits of gold ; another, with a circle of sharp arrows 
lodged in his ample breast, resembles "the sun with 
his rays at mid-day." Odds are of no account when 
the heroes are once carried away with ungovernable 
fury, roaring tremendously, and "licking the corners 
of their mouths like lions in the forest." Bhima on 

1 " Mahabharata, Bbisma Parva," section lxix. Tbat the 
numbers are intended to be precise will be apparent from the 
following passage which is quoted merely as a sample : — " Then 
Bhisma, the grandsire of the Kauravas, struck Arjuna with 
seventy-seven arrows, and Drona (struck him) with five-and- 
twenty, and Kripa with fifty, and Duryodhana with four-and- 
sixty, and Cala with nine arrows, aud Drona's son, that tiger 
among men, with sixty, and Vikarna with three arrows, and 
Saindhana with nine, and Cakuni with five. And Artayani 
pierced Pandu's son with three broad-headed arrows. And 
though pierced on all sides by them with sharp arrows, that 
great bowman, that mighty-armed (warrior) wavered not, like a 
mountain that is pierced with arrows." — Ibid., section Hi. 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 179 

foot with his club in his hand, is, under such condi- 
tions, a match for whole armies, through which he 
rages, with leonine roars, crushing chariots and horses 
under his blows and smashing luckless elephants and 
their riders by thousands, himself bespattered with 
the blood, fat and marrow of his slaughtered foes ; 
resembling, as the poet tells us, the Destroyer himself, 
with wide open mouth, as he appears at the end of the 
yuga. Similarly Arjuna, when attacked simultaneously 
by forty thousand charioteers and hemmed in by them, 
kills the entire number of his rash assailants with 
arrows from Gandiva. When Yudhisthira, ordinarily 
cold-blooded, blazed up with wrath on the battle-field, 
" the thought that arose in the minds of all creatures 
was that this king excited with rage will to-day con- 
sume the three worlds." Bhisma, too, and Drona, 
and many another hero semi-divine or only mortal, 
seems, in his turn, quite irresistible, and carries every- 
thing before him when excited to mad (Berserk) fury. 

The dire confusion caused by the vast multitudes of 
resolute combatants, the blind rage and terror of 
thousands of wounded elephants and horses trampling 
wildly through the midst of friends and foes, the 
deafening uproar of the strife, where the tumultuous 
shouts and cries of contending warriors mingled with 
the clash of arms, the twang of bow-strings, the blare 
of trumpets, and the bellowing of elephants, are all 
vividly pictured by the poet of Kurukshetra. 

It would be too tedious to recount the innumerable 
combats which the author describes, or to follow the 
varying fortunes of the field, as victory inclines now to 
one side, now to the other. It would be cruel work, to 
dwell upon the prodigious slaughter of the rank and 
file which occurred each day, or to picture the vast 
plain covered with the mangled corpses of men, horses 
and elephants. Nor -would it be either profitable or 
pleasant to wander over the ground encumbered with 



182 THE MAHABHARATA 

was eventually overpowered, mostly, however, by the 
arrows of Arjuna. There was nowhere about the 
person of the hero a space two fingers wide free from 
the shafts of his enemies, and when he fell from his 
chariot he did not touch the ground, being literally 
supported on a couch of arrows. Although so sorely 
afflicted by the darts of his enemies, Bhisma did not 
die immediately. The time was inauspicious and he 
postponed his death, as he possessed the privilege of 
doing, till a more propitious moment. " Meanwhile 
the valiant and intelligent Bhisma, the son of Can- 
tanu, having recourse to that Yoga which is taught in 
the great Upanishads, and engaged in mental prayers, 
remained quiet, expectant of his hour." 

The fall of the aged leader was the signal for a 
cessation of the battle, the chiefs of both sides press- 
ing forward to pay their respects to the dying general. 
While conversing with those around him he complained 
that his head was unsupported. Luxurious pillows 
were quickly brought for his use, but he rejected them 
all. Upon this Arjuna made a rest for his head with 
three arrows, and the grim warrior was satisfied. To 
allay Bhisma's burning thirst Arjuna shot an arrow 
into the ground, whence a fountain of pure water came 
springing up to the great comfort of the wounded 
veteran. Guards were placed round the old man as 
he lay on his arrowy couch, and both sides retired to 
rest. 

In the dead of night Kama came to pay his homage 
to the dying general, and to ask forgiveness for any 
faults he may have committed. Bhisma freely for- 
gave him, and advised him to transfer his allegiance 
to the Pandavas, but Kama, nobly faithful to the path 
of honour, rejected the suggestion as on so many 
previous occasions. 

After the fall of Bhisma the command of the army 
was given to Drona, and the contest was carried on 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 183 

with unabated vigour, resulting more than once in 
the defeat of the Pandavas. The record of Drona's 
command abounds in numerous descriptions of single 
combats, in which, besides the more prominent leaders, 
many another chief fought with marvellous skill and 
daring. x\s was inevitable, many heroic warriors were 
killed — such as Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna, and 
the mighty Eakshasa Ghatotkacha, Bhima's son, who 
in his fall crushed to death a whole akshauhini of 
Dhritarashtra's troops. 

In one of the battles Jayadartha, King of the Sind- 
hus performed, single-handed, deeds of matchless 
daring; for he alone held in check all the sons of 
Pandu. Arjuna, enraged at Jayadartha's success, and 
attributing Abhimanyu's death to him, vowed, in the 
presence of all men, either to slay the victorious chief 
before the day was done or to lay down his own life 
on the funeral pyre. But the Kajahof Sindhu was so 
well supported by his friends that there appeared every 
likelihood that he would survive the day. Kather than 
this should occur and Arjuna fall by his own hand, 
Krishna obscured the sun by his Yoga power. The 
unsuspecting Jayadartha and his friends, believing 
that the sun had set and night come on, were filled 
with joy at the prospect of Arjuna's doom, and were 
carelessly looking up towards the darkened sky, when 
Arjuna, at Krishna's suggestion, taking advantage of 
their being off their guard, renewed the battle with 
redoubled vigour. He eventually struck off Jayadartha's 
head with one of his wonderful weapons and sped it 
along through the air with his arrows till it fell into 
the lap of Yriddhakshatra, the father of Jayadartha, 
whence it rolled on to the ground. It appears that 
when Jayadartha was born, a voice, proceeding from 
some unseen being, predicted that he would meet his 
death by having his head cut off. His pious father 
thereupon prophesied that the man who should cause 



184 THE MAHABHARATA 

his son's head to fall to the earth, would have his own 
cracked into a hundred pieces. For his own protec- 
tion, therefore, Arjuna, at Krishna's suggestion, had 
hurled the dead man's head into Vriddhakshatra's 
lap and, as it fell to the earth, lo ! the old man's head 
cracked into a hundred fragments in grim fulfilment 
of his own prophecy. 

Other marvellous events are not wanting in the 
narrative ; as when, in the thick of battle, Arjuna, 
piercing the earth with one of his arrows, creates in 
a moment a lake of water for his thirsty horses to 
drink from — a lake inhabited by swarms of aquatic 
birds and covered with lotuses — or when Acwatha- 
man employs the irresistible Narayana weapon, and 
the Pandavas, on their part, pacify and propitiate this 
destructive missile by laying down their arms before it. 

Drona himself, although advanced in years, de- 
feated the Pandavas many times, and it was only by 
a cruel stratagem that his destruction was ultimately 
effected. When he was carrying everything before 
him in the battle the Pandavas informed him, falsely, 
that his son had been killed. He did not credit the 
report at first, but when assured of its truth by the 
virtuous Yudhisthira himself, who stooped to this 
mean falsehood upon the advice of Krishna, the old 
hero threw away his arms and, devoting himself to 
Yoga contemplation, passed away immediately. After 
his spirit had ascended to heaven in great glory, 
Dhrista-dyumna beheaded his lifeless corpse, 1 upon 
which Dhritarashtra's troops fled precipitately from 
the field. 

Kama succeeded Drona as generalissimo of the 

1 Drona, being a Brahman, it would never have done for him 
to have actually died by the sword of Dhrista-dyumna. Yet 
this prince was born expressly to destroy Drona — hence this 
attempt to reconcile Brahman sensitiveness and pretensions with 
the details of the old legend. 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 185 

forces, but bis command was of sbort duration : for 
although he performed wonders of gallantry against 
his adversaries fate was too strong for him, and on 
the second day he was overthrown by Arjuna. There 
was something unfortunate, if not unfair, in the cir- 
cumstances attending his death ; for just when he 
had obtained an advantage over Arjuna, who seemed 
likely to get the worst of the contest, a wheel of 
Kama's chariot came off. He was obliged to leap 
to the ground and, in this unfavourable position, was 
despatched by Arjuna. 

In the battles which took place under Kama's 
direction an eventful combat occurred between Bhima 
and Dhusashana, ending in the defeat and death of the 
latter, whose warm blood Bhima drank in fulfilment 
of his vow on the occasion of Draupadi's humiliation 
in the gaming hall. Another incident of some in- 
terest is the vigorous but unsuccessful attack made 
by an army of Mlecchas on Arjuna, as the narrative 
shows the poet's high opinion of the martial qualities 
of the non-Aryan races in the Kaurava army. 

For the fourth time Dhritarashtra's forces were 
without a commander. This time the choice fell 
upon Salya, King of Madra, who gallantly emulated 
the deeds of his heroic predecessors. But though he 
fought with vigour and determination, though he was 
ably supported by chiefs like Sakuni, who still sur- 
vived, though his Mleccha allies, under their leader 
Salva, did great execution amongst the enemy, victory 
eventually declared for his opponents. A terrific 
battle was followed by a complete rout and the utter 
annihilation of the Kaurava forces, of whose eleven 
akshauhinis there remained, at the end of the eigh- 
teenth day of the war, but four men, — four men only 
out of all the countless hosts who had joined the blind 
king's party ! 

These four were Duryodhana himself, Kripa, Acwa- 



186 THE MAUABHARATA 

thaman and Kritavarman. Now Duryodhana pos- 
sessed a charm by which he could remain under water 
as long as he pleased ; and, taking advantage of this, 
he hid himself in the lake, carrying his mace in his 
hand. But he was traced to his hiding-place. Yud- 
histhira approaching the lake taunted Duryodhana 
with cowardice, and challenged him to come out and 
fight as a Kshatriya should. Stung by his taunts 
Duryodhana emerged from his hiding-place, dripping 
with blood and water, having agreed to engage in a 
single combat with the giant Bhima, both being armed 
with clubs only. So equal were the combatants that 
a prolonged fight ensued. Tremendous blows were 
freely given and received. The very earth trembled 
under the dreadful contest, and the Pandavas began 
to entertain grave fears that if Bhima were vanquished 
the rest of them would be easily defeated and slain 
in detail by Duryodhana, who was a proficient in the 
use of the mace. At this critical moment Krishna 
artfully suggested by a gesture to Bhima that he 
should strike Duryodhana on the thigh, and thus 
fulfil his vow and vanquish his enemy at the same 
time. A successful blow delivered upon this sug- 
gestion, which was contrary to the recognized rules 
of club fighting, laid Duryodhana low, and left the 
Pandavas undisputed masters of the day. But, even 
though countless millions of human beings had already 
perished on the fatal field of Kurukshetra, and Dur- 
yodhana, the cause of all this havoc, lay there mor- 
tally wounded, more blood was yet to flow. Of the 
Kaurava hosts there still remained three men, and of 
these, one, Acwathaman, lived only in the hope of 
avenging to some extent the blood of his father Drona. 
Brooding schemes of vengeance through the dark 
hours of the night, the young man observed in a 
forest where he had taken refuge an owl approach 
noiselessly some sleeping crows and destroy them one 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 187 

after another. Accepting this event as a suggestion 
for his guidance, he persuaded his two companions to 
join him in an attempt to steal into the camp of the 
Pandavas — whose followers were sleeping in fancied 
security — with the object of wreaking their vengeance 
on their unarmed and unsuspecting enemies. They 
justified this nocturnal attack by calling to mind the 
many unfair advantages which the Pandavas had 
taken of their more honourable foes during the course 
of this fratricidal war — as in the cases of Bhisma, 
Drona and Kama. 

At the entrance to the camp the three desperate 
warriors were met by an awful figure who barred their 
progress. With him Acwathanian fought a fierce 
battle, during the course of which he recognized in 
his redoubtable adversary the great god Siva, before 
whom he humbly prostrated himself. Presently there 
appeared a golden altar attended by hideous monsters, 
and Acwathanian, to obtain the favour of Siva, 
offered himself as a sacrifice in the fire which blazed 
upon the altar. Siva was propitiated by this pious 
act, and himself graciously entered the body of 
Acwathaman, after explaining to him that he had 
up to that time protected the family of Draupadi in 
order to please Krishna, but that he would do so no 
longer as their hour was at hand. 

Acwathaman thus inspired by Siva, and now 
glorious to behold, boldly penetrated the hostile 
camp, while Kripa and Kritavarman stood at the 
gate to intercept and destroy all fugitives. The five 
Pandavas themselves were away in the now vacant 
camp of the Kauravas, whither they had gone to take 
possession of the spoils of the vanquished. 

The revenge taken by Acwathanian and his asso- 
ciates was complete and bloody. The first to perish 
in the nocturnal attack was the generalissimo of the 
Pandava army, Dhrista-dyumna himself, whom A9- 



188 THE MAHABHARATA 

wathaman found sleeping in his tent and whom he 
literally trampled to death under his feet. An in- 
describable panic was caused by the massacre which 
followed the murder of the commander-in-chief; and, 
in the dire confusion of darkness, friends fell upon 
each other, fathers killed their own sons and sons 
their fathers. In this terrible "night of slaughter" 
Acwathaman killed the five sons of Draupadi, one 
after the other, and carried away their bleeding heads 
with him to gratify the heart of the chieftain, his 
master, who lay in the agony of death upon that field 
of carnage. 

Acwatharnan approaching the prince told him that 
he had slain the Pandavas and had their heads in his 
possession. Even with his life ebbing fast away the 
feelings of gratified revenge put a transient vigour 
into Duryodhana, and he leaped from the ground in 
a transport of fierce joy. The morning was not far 
distant, and in the uncertain twilight preceding the 
dawn he examined the heads and was deceived by 
the resemblance the sons of Draupadi bore to their 
respective fathers. Gloating over the complete ven- 
geance which had been wreaked by Acwatharnan he 
took into his hands what he believed to be the head 
of Bhima and squeezed it with all his might. The 
skull burst in his hands under the violent pressure, 
and Duryodhana at once perceived that some decep- 
tion had been practised on him ; for he felt that 
Bhima's skull would not have thus yielded in his 
grasp. He desired to see the other heads and, on 
close inspection, understood what had really occurred. 
With reproaches on his lips and bitterness in his 
heart the dying man expired, while his three followers 
made haste to quit the spot and flee from the pursuit 
of their enemies. 1 

1 This description of Duryodhana's death scene is based upon 
the version in Mr. Talboys Wheeler's "History of India," vol. i. 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 189 

The war was over. The five Pandavas, now undis- 
puted masters of the situation, sought a reconciliation 
with the blind king. Helpless though he was, Dhrita- 
rashtra's feelings of bitterness against Bhinia, for the 
unfair defeat of his son Duryodhana, were so intense 
that he meditated crushing the hero to death in his 
mighty arms, under the pretence of a friendly wel- 
come ; but Krishna, divining his intention, placed an 
iron image in his embrace, which the blind king, who 
possessed gigantic strength, crushed to pieces against 
his breast. Eventually, however, a reconciliation was 
effected between the Pandavas and the heart-broken 
old monarch. 

The scene of the terrible carnage during eighteen 
consecutive days was now covered with mourners 
seeking, with breaking hearts, to recognize their be- 
loved dead amongst the reeking corpses. At length 
arrangements were made for the cremation of the 
bodies that lay upon the battle-field, and they were 
duly disposed of, according to their rank. 

A triumphal procession was next arranged from the 
plain of Kurukshetra to the city of Hastinapur, where 
Yudhisthira was installed with great pomp and cere- 
mony as Eajah, under the nominal sovereignty of his 
blind uncle. At the inauguration a friend of Duryod- 
hana' s began to revile the new king for the slaughter 
of his kinsfolk; but the Brahmans looked upon the 
reviler with angry eyes, and he fell upon the ground 
like a tree struck by lightning and was burnt to ashes 
upon the spot. 

Yudhisthira, though now enthroned at Hastinapur, 
seems to have found his new office so beset with 
anxieties that he desired to have the advice of Bhisma 
for his guidance. He accordingly proceeded to the 

pp. 351-352, which is derived from a translation of the epic in 
the library of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, supposed to have 
been prepared by Prof. H. H. Wilson. 



190 THE MAHABHARATA 

battle-field at Kurukshetra, where the old hero was 
still alive upon his couch of arrows. The dying sage 
gave the king excellent advice on many important 
subjects relating to the duties of kings and the con- 
duct of life, which we cannot, unfortunately, find 
space for. When he had passed fifty-eight days on 
his uncomfortable bed Bhisma resolved to die. At 
once the cruel arrows left his body, his head split 
open, and his released spirit ascended to heaven like 
a bright star. 

As soon as Yudhisthira was firmly established on 
the throne of Bharata he determined to perform an 
Aswamedha, or horse sacrifice. The performance of 
this sacrifice was an assertion of sovereignty over the 
whole earth, and had such peculiar virtue that the 
successful performance of one hundred Aswamedhas 
gave the sacrificer power even over Indra, the god of 
heaven. In Yudhisthira' s case, it is true, the Aswa- 
medha was suggested by the sage Yyasa, as atonement 
for all the monarch's sins. A horse of a particular 
colour had to be obtained and, as a preliminary to the 
sacrifice, the animal was set free to wander at its 
pleasure for one year. The Bajah who proposed per- 
forming the Aswamedha, or the deputy of such Bajah, 
followed with an army in the track of the horse. If 
the animal found its way into the territories of any 
foreign state, the ruler of that state was bound either 
to seize the horse and fight the invader, or else to 
acknowledge his own inferiority ; and, in proof of 
submission, to swell with his own forces those of his 
superior lord. 

In order to be present at the ceremony of loosing 
the horse, Krishna journeyed to Hastinapur. A de- 
tailed account of his march is given in the " Maha- 
bharata," and is of special interest when it is re- 
membered that this Bajah is regarded as an incarnation 
of the Supreme Being. Krishna's trip to Yudhisthira' s 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 191 

capital was a joyous progress. He was accompanied 
by Rukmini and Satyabhama, and his other favourite 
wives, as well as various members of the family. The 
crowd that attended him was a motley one, and 
included no small number of loose characters, dancing- 
girls and performers of all sorts, with whom Krishna 
seems to have been on the most familiar footing. And 
they are represented as having been aware of his 
divine nature, for a harlot having met with an 
accident which excited the mirth of the bystanders, 
remarked : " There is no occasion for laughing, for 
every day I behold the divine Krishna and therefore 
all my sins are forgiven me." l 

The horse destined for the sacrifice was at length 
set free, and was followed by Arjuna at the head of a 
mighty army. It led him and his followers into many 
strange adventures, but we shall here only allude to a 
few of them. The horse, in his wanderings, entered 
the country of the Amazons, young and lovely warriors 
— " perfect in the arts of love, and in the various ways 
of fascinating men " 2 — whose charms were as danger- 
ous as their weapons ; but who were prevailed upon 
to allow the horse free passage through their country. 
Then the host was conducted into a region where the 
trees bore men and women, and where the men had 
ears with one of which they covered their heads and 
with the other their bodies. In this land of marvels 
the terrible prime minister wore, as ear-rings, a dead 
elephant and a dead camel. 

The horse next passed into the country of Manipura, 
which Arjuna had visited in one of his earlier wander- 
ings, and over which a son of his was now ruling. 
This king's magnificence was such that his palace was 
surrounded by a golden wall and his capital by a silver 

1 The " Mahabharata " quoted in " History of India," by J. 
Talboys Wheeler, vol. i ., pp. 386-390. 



192 THE MAHABHARATA 

-one. His reception-hall was supported on golden 
pillars, and illuminated at night by torches made of 
sandal wood, wound round with cloth steeped in per- 
fumed oils. The greatness and power of the ruler of 
this country was commensurate with his wealth and 
splendour ; but his filial respect was so great that he 
tendered his submission to the invader, his father 
Arjuna, in the most abject manner. Arjuna disdain- 
fully repudiated a son who exhibited, as he thought, so 
much cowardice. The result was a terrible battle, in 
which Arjuna's head was severed from his body by a 
crescent-shaped arrow from his son's bow. However, 
Arjuna was not to perish thus ; and his son procured, 
from the King of the Serpents, who lived in the 
bowels of the earth, a certain jewel which possessed 
the power of restoring life. This, when applied to 
the body of the dead Pandava, caused the head and 
trunk to reunite. Arjuna, restored to life, was easily 
reconciled to his brave son, the mighty Bajah of 
Manipur. 

The year appointed for the wandering expedition at 
length came to an end, and the horse with its escort 
returned to Hastinapur. The sacrifice was then per- 
formed with the usual magnificence. Gold, jewels, 
elephants, horses, and cows were, as on all such 
occasions, freely given away, particularly to the Brah- 
mans. With great ceremony the head of the horse 
was struck off by Bhima and, immediately mounting 
towards the sky, soared out of sight. The body was 
cast into the sacrificial fire. To crown the great 
ceremony, Indra, with attendant gods, presented him- 
self to partake of the sacrifice, and, amidst general 
rejoicings, feastings and further extravagant largesses, 
the Aswamedha was brought to a successful con- 
clusion. 

Years passed ; the blind old Maharajah, weighed 
down with sorrowful recollections of his sons and 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 193 

followers who had fallen in the great war, retired, 
with his wife Gandhari, into a jungle on the banks of 
the Ganges. Kunti also accompanied them. To this 
hermitage the Pandavas paid a visit. The conversa- 
tion, as was natural, turned upon the friends and 
kinsfolk who had perished on the plain of Kurukshetra. 
While this sad subject was being discussed the sage 
Yyasa made his appearance, and promised the 
mourners that he would, that very night, show them 
the relatives for whom they had been sorrowing. 
After bathing in the Ganges the company stood to- 
gether on the bank of the sacred river. Vyasa, stand- 
ing by the king, summoned the dead to appear. A 
scene of inexpressible grandeur followed immediately. 
The river began to foam and boil. A great noise was 
heard, and out of the troubled water arose the men 
who had died at Kurukshetra. They came as when 
alive, but more beautiful and in all the pomp of 
martial glory, in full armour, upon their chariots and 
with music. The foes who had cruelly slaughtered 
each other now r appeared as friends, and were attended 
by troops of singers and of dancing-girls. Dead and 
living communed freely with each other and, in the joy 
of reunion, the sorrows of so many years were for- 
gotten. But, with the morning, the ghostly visitants 
disappeared. And now Vyasa gave the widows who 
wished to rejoin their dead husbands permission to do 
so ; upon w r hich all the w T idow T s drowned themselves in 
the Ganges and were reunited to their lords. 

The Pandavas with their followers returned to 
Hastinapur and, about tw T o years afterwards, the old 
king, his w T ife and Kunti, w T ith their attendants, 
perished in a jungle fire. 

Krishna, the friend of the Pandavas, also met with 
an untimely end after another fratricidal civil war in 
his owti country, and his capital city of Dwarka — from 
which the remaining inhabitants had been removed 



192 THE MAHABHARATA 

one. His reception-hall was supported on golden 
pillars, and illuminated at night by torches made of 
sandal wood, wound round with cloth steeped in per- 
fumed oils. The greatness and power of the ruler of 
this country was commensurate with his wealth and 
splendour ; but his filial respect was so great that he 
tendered his submission to the invader, his father 
Arjuna, in the most abject manner. Arjuna disdain- 
fully repudiated a son who exhibited, as he thought, so 
much cowardice. The result was a terrible battle, in 
which Arjuna's head was severed from his body by a 
crescent- shaped arrow from his son's bow. However, 
Arjuna was not to perish thus ; and his son procured, 
from the King of the Serpents, who lived in the 
bowels of the earth, a certain jewel which possessed 
the power of restoring life. This, when applied to 
the body of the dead Pandava, caused the head and 
trunk to reunite. Arjuna, restored to life, was easily 
reconciled to his brave son, the mighty Eajah of 
Manipur. 

The year appointed for the wandering expedition at 
length came to an end, and the horse with its escort 
returned to Hastinapur. The sacrifice was then per- 
formed with the usual magnificence. Gold, jewels, 
elephants, horses, and cows were, as on all such 
occasions, freely given away, particularly to the Brah- 
mans. With great ceremony the head of the horse 
was struck off by Bhima and, immediately mounting 
towards the sky, soared out of sight. The body was 
east into the sacrificial fire. To crown the great 
ceremony, Indra, with attendant gods, presented him- 
self to partake of the sacrifice, and, amidst general 
rejoicings, feastings and further extravagant largesses, 
the Aswamedha was brought to a successful con- 
clusion. 

Years passed ; the blind old Maharajah, weighed 
down with sorrowful recollections of his sons and 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 193 

followers who had fallen in the great war, retired, 
with his wife Gandhari, into a jungle on the banks of 
the Ganges. Kunti also accompanied them. To this 
hermitage the Pandavas paid a visit. The conversa- 
tion, as was natural, turned upon the friends and 
kinsfolk who had perished on the plain of Kurukshetra. 
While this sad subject was being discussed the sage 
Vyasa made his appearance, and promised the 
mourners that he would, that very night, show them 
the relatives for whom they had been sorrowing. 
After bathing in the Ganges the company stood to- 
gether on the bank of the sacred river. Vyasa, stand- 
ing by the king, summoned the dead to appear. A 
scene of inexpressible grandeur followed immediately. 
The river began to foam and boil. A great noise was 
heard, and out of the troubled water arose the men 
who had died at Kurukshetra. They came as when 
alive, but more beautiful and in all the pomp of 
martial glory, in full armour, upon their chariots and 
with music. The foes who had cruelly slaughtered 
each other now appeared as friends, and were attended 
by troops of singers and of dancing-girls. Dead and 
living communed freely with each other and, in the joy 
of reunion, the sorrows of so many years were for- 
gotten. But, with the morning, the ghostly visitants 
disappeared. And now Vyasa gave the widows who 
wished to rejoin their dead husbands permission to do 
so ; upon which all the widows drowned themselves in 
the Ganges and were reunited to their lords. 

The Pandavas with their followers returned to 
Hastinapur and, about two years afterwards, the old 
king, his wife and Kunti, with their attendants, 
perished in a jungle fire. 

Krishna, the friend of the Pandavas, also met with 
an untimely end after another fratricidal civil war in 
his own country, and his capital city of Dwarka — from 
which the remaining inhabitants had been removed 



194 THE MAHABHARATA 

by Arjuna to Hastinapur — was overwhelmed by a 
wave of the sea. 

After the many trials and sorrows they had gone 
through, a weariness of life, such as would seem only 
too natural under the circumstances, took possession 
of the Pandavas, and they were minded to be done 
with earthly things. 

" Let us go forth to die ! Time slayeth all. 
We will find Death who seeketh other men." 

— Sir Edwin Arnold. 

With this resolve the five brothers adopted the 
hermit's garb, and accompanied by the still peerless 
Draupadi, and attended by one faithful dog, they 
turned their steps towards Mount Meru — the abode 
of the gods. A long, circuitous and weary journey 
was theirs, performed on foot, and in decorous Indian 
file. The brothers walked one behind the other 
according to their respective ages. Draupadi, " with 
soft dark face and lustrous eyes," dutifully followed 
her husbands with unwavering devotion. The dog 
brought up the rear. Through hoary forests, by 
running streams, along the shores of the sounding 
ocean, over parched and burning plains lay their toil- 
some way to the sacred mountain. But alas ! the 
king alone was destined to reach it alive. One by one 
the tired pilgrims succumbed to inevitable death. 
First Draupadi fainted and perished on the way, 
because — her only fault — her woman's heart had 
loved Arjuna too much. After her Sahadeva paid the 
penalty of pride, and Nakula of self-love. The three 
who still survived hastened on without looking back, 
for they knew that their loved companions were 
beyond the reach of any help. The king with Bhima 
and Arjuna pressed on for Meru. But the great 
archer's turn to die soon arrived, and the giant Bhima 
perished also. Of all the pilgrims who, weary of the 



THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 195 

world, had set out from Hastinapur, King Yudhisthira 
alone, with the hound closely following him, reached 
the Celestial Mountain and was warmly welcomed by 
the gods. 

With the gates of Swarga wide open for his recep- 
tion the magnanimous king paused upon the very 
threshold of Paradise and, more mindful of others 
than of himself, asked that his brothers and Draupadi 
should accompany him into heaven. Being assured 
that he would meet them there, his next solicitude 
was for his canine companion. At the gate he was 
informed that the hound must be left outside to the 
fate that might await him, for such could certainly 
not enter the abode of the gods. The large-hearted 
king, however, would not consent to abandon even this 
humble comrade of his weary pilgrimage, and lo ! 

" Straight as he spake, brightly great Indra smiled, 
Vanished the hound, and in its stead stood there, 
The lord of death and justice, Dharma's self." 

— Arnold. 

In Swarga Yudhisthira did not find his noble 
brothers, nor the tender Draupadi, and learned that 
they were still in Purgatory expiating the sins of 
their earthly lives. Without them heaven had no 
charms for the king. He preferred to share the un- 
happy fate of his kinsfolk, and was conducted to the 
nether regions by a celestial messenger, along a dismal 
road reeking with loathsome corruption, and through 
hideous scenes of terrible suffering, such as have filled 
the morbid imaginations of men in every nation. 

Yudhisthira's presence in those abodes of anguish 
brought some mitigation to the punishments of the 
many who were there undergoing a fierce purgation 
from the dross of their mundane existence. Wailing 
voices entreated the great king to stay awhile for their 
comfort amongst them, and he magnanimously con- 



196 THE MAHABHARATA 

sented to do so. But the gods, at length interposing, 
conducted him back to Swarga. With him were his 
brothers and Draupadi — all purified by punishment 
from such sins or frailties as had marred their per- 
fection during their terrestrial life. 

Thus grandly closes the wonderful story of the 
great war ! 



CHAPTEE III 

THE SACRED LAND 

Eound about the town of Thanesar lies Brahmavarta 
the sacred land of the Hindus, and within a short 
walk of the town is Kurukshetra. 

Thanesar itself is in ruins, and the lake near which 
the Pandavas and Kauravas fought their great battle 
is now a dismal swamp, yet adorned on one side by a 
beautiful fringe of really magnificent banyan trees, 
under whose leafy covering are sheltered a few of 
those unimposing brick and plaster temples so common 
in Upper India. 

Unsparing time has strewn the whole world with 
the ruins of man's handiwork. The crumbling remains 
of cities, temples and palaces may be found »in every 
country under the sun; and, according to circum- 
stances, appeal to widely different feelings and evoke 
widely different sentiments in the heart of the spectator. 
Thus, it is with a profound sense of the reality and 
greatness of Eoman power that we muse amidst the 
columns of the Forum, or recall to mind in the mighty 
Colosseum the tragic pastimes of the imperial people. 
It is with a respectful admiration, not unmingled with 
pity, that we see in old Delhi the considerable ruins 
of the lordly mosque constructed out of the spoils of 
more ancient Hindu temples. But it is only with a 
feeling of simple depression, unrelieved by any other 
sentiment, that we wander amongst the extensive brick 



198 . THE MAHABHARATA 

ruins of Thanesar, unredeemed by a trace of either 
beauty or grandeur, and largely tenanted by monkeys, 
in whom a pious Punjabi graduate recognizes " de- 
funct Brahmans . . . watching as it were over their 
old habitations." l 

I visited the town in December, 1892, and never 
have I seen a place which looked more utterly forlorn. 
Whole streets of brick-built houses quite modern in 
appearance falling into ruins, which are too mean to 
be interesting, too recent to be picturesque and, for 
the most part, entirely uninhabited, except by the 
" defunct Brahmans" already referred to. Where 
shops and dwellings still exist they partake of the 
general tumble-down character of the town ; but the 
wares for sale are by no means ancient, and show that 
the remnant who burrow in Thanesar still indulge in 
the rich confectionery of the country and still take 
pleasure in the gay-coloured saree and the glittering 
chowree of glass. 

Amidst the general decay a few Hindu temples with 
tall, tapering spires still show a brave front, and the 
tomb of the Mussulman saint, Shaikh Chilli, built on a 
slight elevation, rears its marble dome into the air 
with something of pride ; but the rest, as I have said, 
is meanness and squalor itself. 

Within the precincts of Shaikh Chilli's tomb is a 
school where I saw the boys at their tasks as I passed 
in to see the place. " What unlucky boys," thought 
I, "to be brought up amidst the unwholesome moral 
atmosphere of a decaying city ! " 

Although there is no present glory or grandeur about 
Kurukshetra, a visit to it will repay the thoughtful 
student of Indian history and religion. 

In an expanse of flat country, from which, however, 
the blue outlines of the Himalayas may be traced in 

1 " A Pilgrimage to the Field of the Mahabharata," by Madho 
Earn, B.A., " Punjab Magazine," June, 1890. 



THE SACRED LAND 199 

the distance, the traveller finds, a short way outside 
Thanesar, a shallow swamp about three miles in cir- 
cumference and overgrown with weeds. This is the 
historic lake which, according to General Cunningham, 
was a sacred place long anterior to the great war ; 
indeed, as far back as the time of the Rig Veda itself. 
" Can it be possible," I mused, as I stood beside this 
weed-covered pool, " that for a hundred generations 
the affectionate devotion of the Hindu race has con- 
sistently and persistently clung to this unattractive 
bit of water in an open plain? " " And how is it," I 
asked myself, " that their piety never adorned its 
banks with temples (for there are here no ruins worth 
speaking of), and why is it now so neglected ? " 

Will the reader accompany me round the lake and 
survey it from all points of view ? l On the east side 
are the only important buildings, the largest being a 
temple of very modern date and no architectural pre- 
tensions. It is an ordinary Mandir ; but has just a 
slight local character in the fact that it contains five 
coloured clay statues of the Pandavas, railed off from 
the too curious or too pious spectator by a strong, 
rudely constructed railing of bamboos. It rejoices in 
the possession of a huge iron frying-pan — not less than 
eight feet in diameter and about nine inches deep — to 
which my attention was specially directed. This gigantic 
frying-pan is much in demand on festival days, when 
the multitude pays to be fed by the Brahmans. 

A flight of steps leads from the temple into the 
water, and runs nearly along one-half of the eastern 
and northern sides of the lake. A causeway on arches 
extends into the lake and ends in a small temple 
picturesquely shadowed with trees. Another bridge, 
now but little above the level of the water, parallel to 

1 It is worth noting that it was on the western side of the lake 
that the Pandavas encamped, and Kauravas on the eastern 
side. 



200 THE MAHABHARATA 

the causeway just mentioned, leads right across the 
lake, joining to both east and west banks a small 
island in the middle, on which that famous bigot, the 
Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, erected a diminutive fort 
to accommodate a small garrison, intrusted with the 
duty of preventing the Hindus from bathing in their 
sacred pool. 

Proceeding along the east bank we pass a number of 
small tumble-down shrines, overshadowed by majestic 
banyans, extending their mighty arms in graceful 
curves over the tranquil green water. We still follow 
the steps and arrive at the north end which has quite 
a recent look about it. Our guide tells us that this 
modern additionwas the work of one " Larkeen Sahib," 
an official in these parts, who was very fond of the 
Hindu, and had built this ghat for them out of a feel- 
ing of gratitude because his wife had owed her re- 
covery from a mysterious illness to the intercession of 
the Brahmans. Oh ! " Larkeen Sahib," I wonder if 
the pious local legend which is told about you has 
ever reached your ears ! 

On the western side we find a little brick cenotaph 
which commemorates the suttee of the five wives of a 
Brahman whose name is now forgotten. 

Somewhat in advance of this cenotaph, and a little 
away from the lake-side, we are conducted to a " by- 
thuck " of Guru Nanak, the original founder of the 
Sikh sect, and we take shelter within its walls from a 
pelting shower of rain which makes the landscape more 
cheerless than ever. Here our guide informs us Guru 
Nanak used to sit beside the sacred pool to practise 
contemplation. But the admiring crowds who came 
to visit him would give him no peace ; so one day, to 
avoid their unwelcome attentions, he just sank into 
the ground and, following a subterranean tunnel, 
emerged at Hurdwar on the Ganges. There could be 
no doubt about this miraculous underground journey, 



THE SACRED LAND 201 

for there was the very tunnel itself to support the 
truth of the story, with a substantial flight of steps 
leading down into it. Yes, true enough, there were 
three or four steps leading down into a small hole 
within the walls of the shrine. But how about the 
tunnel ? My son descended into the hole to explore 
it. A look of chagrin passed over the face of our 
Brahman guide. Why this unnecessary and irreverent 
curiosity ? The story must be true, for every one 
believed it ; and, certainly, the position of this bythuck 
of Guru Nanak is interesting, for it shows how per- 
sistently the Sikhs attach themselves to the old Hindu 
faith to which the vast majority of professing Sikhs 
now practically belong. 

If there is anything that strikes one at Kurukshetra 
— and similar places in India — it is that the Brahmans 
have clung with wonderful tenacity through the vicissi- 
tudes of ages to their sacred spots ; and that though 
they have, according to universal belief, enjoyed con- 
siderable revenues, they have, through all these ages, 
done nothing to adorn their sacred places, which owe 
what temporary embellishment they have to the not 
too magnificent and not too frequent liberality of indi- 
viduals. It strikes one also that, with each changing 
fashion of belief, each rise of a new sect, the Brahmans 
having willingly accommodated it with a convenient 
local habitation and have hastened to associate its 
glories with those of its predecessors. Hence the 
shrine of Guru Nanak at Kurukshetra, alongside which 
we shall, no doubt, some day have one in honour of 
Swami Dayanand, when the Aryan sect is sufficiently 
grown to impress the Brahmans with its importance ; 
the mere matter of orthodoxy or unorthodoxy being 
somewhat unimportant. 

The reason for the wonderful persistence with which 
the affectionate regard of the Hindus has hovered 
round their old shrines and holy places for thousands 



202 THE MAHABHARATA 

of years, though at first sight rather strange, is not 
difficult of explanation. They have a hereditary priest- 
hood, a priesthood that lives by the proceeds of the 
shrines, and to whom the shrines are what land is to 
the cultivator. In this simple fact lies the explanation 
of the matter, and of other points in Hindu religious 
history, and probably in the history of other nations 
with hereditary priesthoods. Successive generations 
of priests have, for their own subsistence, to attract to 
the shrine they have inherited successive generations 
of pilgrims, by keeping alive the old traditions, or 
inventing new legends to suit the altered tastes of the 
times. As the weeds that flourish in the lake are 
lineal descendants of the weeds that grew in the same 
place time out of mind, so are the Brahmans on the 
banks of the lake the lineal descendants of the Brah- 
mans who flourished there in times immemorial. As 
the weeds live on the rank soil and stagnant water of 
the pond, so live the Brahmans on their wild legends 
and stale pretensions. 

Guru Nanak's bythuck — the presence of which on the 
lake-side led to the above digression — is but a few 
hundred yards from the west end of Aurangzeb's 
bridge and, as there appeared to be nothing of interest 
on the south side, we crossed over to the island, 
inspected the Mughal fort and, following the bridge, 
returned to the principal temple ; but before doing so 
we managed to secure a few photographs of the pretty 
scene on the east bank as viewed from the bridge. 

In the region round Kurukshetra, within a " circuit 
of one hundred and sixty miles," says General Cunning- 
ham, "there are popularly said to be three hundred and 
sixty holy sites, most of which are connected with the 
names of the heroes of the ' Mahabharata.' Many of 
these are no doubt genuine ancient places, as attested 
by their high mounds and brick ruins. But the greater 
number appear to me to be the inventions of modern 



THE SACRED LAND 203 

days. According to the Mahatniyas, of which only 
one is said to be old, the holy places had lain desolate 
for several centuries after the Muharnmadan conquest, 
when a Dandi or mendicant, named Earn Chandra 
Swaini, came from Kasi to Kurukshetra. He was 
grieved to see the desolation and determined to stop 
there and try to restore the holy places. But, as even 
the sites of many were unknown, he professed to have 
obtained a knowledge of them in his dreams ; and, 
accordingly, he wrote a book describing them, which 
is called the " Mahatmya of 6000 slokas," and also the 
" Dandi Mahatmya." Long afterwards a Pandit of 
Thanesar, named Banmali, traced all the holy sites 
from the positions given by the Dandi, whose account 
is now accepted as genuine by all Brahmans, although 
his only authority for the identification was a dream." x 
With the foregoing in mind I was not very eager 
to visit the sacred places, which have neither scenic 
nor architectural attractions. However, I could not 
leave Brahmavarta without seeing the holy Saraswati. 
The only form of conveyance available at Thanesar 
was the Ekka and, though I knew from sad experience 
what ekkas could do in the way of producing dis- 
comfort to every limb, I was fain to call them into 
requisition as the time at my disposal was short. Two 
ekkas were engaged, one for my son and myself, the 
other for the indispensable Babu and the Brahman 
guide. What a sight we two unhindu pilgrims did 
present as we contorted ourselves into the springless 
vehicle and set off for the Saraswati ! In a drenching 
downpour of rain our Ekka-ivallah drove us, almost 
jolted to bits, over the worst roads ever made, to a spot 
where the Samadh of a deceased Bajah of Faridekote 
now stands. Here we had to dismount and proceed 
on foot to the river, famous since the time when the 

1 " Archaeological Survey of India Keports," vol. xiv. (Punjab), 
by General Cunningham, p. 90. 



204 THE MAHABHARATA 

Aryans settled in India. Dripping wet, and aching 
all over, I proceeded with the rest through the grass 
and slush a hundred yards or so, to find myself on 
the banks of a tiny stream not twenty yards wide, 
which was sluggishly flowing at my feet. I had now 
seen the historic Saraswati and my visit to the sacred 
land was practically over. 

It is at the time of a lunar eclipse, when the waters 
of all other sacred tanks mingle mysteriously with 
those of the ponds near Thanesar, that the Brahmans 
of Kurukshetra reap their harvest of gains ; for then 
tens of thousands of pilgrims crowd to bathe in the 
sacred pool, and, of course, fee the priests according 
to the measure of their means and their piety. 1 The 
Punjab University graduate, already quoted, gives us 
some curious particulars in regard to the largesses 
distributed on such occasions by the wealthy. He 
tells us, with reference to solar eclipses, that " The 
Eajahs and Maharajahs of the land, too, are not absent 
on such occasions. They untie their purse-strings, 
and hundreds and thousands of rupees are considered 
as nothing when compared with the importance of 
the moment. The Brahmans, with loads of sweet- 
meats on their backs and with money in their unknown 
(sic) pockets, go home cheerfully and thankfully. 
They do not fail to get many cows in addition, and 

1 With the decay of Thanesar there has been a marked falling 
off in the number of pilgrims to the sacred places. " The 
sanitary arrangements introduced by the British authorities to 
prevent the spread of disease are said to be most unpopular and 
to deter large numbers of pilgrims from attending. ... It is 
said that, whereas in former days great men used to march to 
Thanesar with small armies of followers and attendants they 
now come by rail with a few servants to the nearest station and 
return in the same way." — Gazetteer of the Ambala District, pp. 
73-74. On the other hand, the railways must bring to the 
shrines many who could not have spared the time or the money 
to visit them under the old conditions of travel. 



THE SACKED LAND 205 

some fortunate few even receive at the hands of the 
Rajahs, and other big men, presents of villages or of 
elephants, which are returned for a paltry sum on the 
following da}\ Maharajah Narendra Singh of Patiala 
is said to have gone the length of parting with one of 
his wives on a similar occasion and, when on being 
asked to name her price, the parohit seemed willing to 
accept a lakh of rupees, the Eani was very angry with 
him for demanding such a low sum in return for the 
wife of such a wealthy Rajah." x 

The writer of the above curious passage seems 
strangely unconscious of the real significance of the 
facts he records, and apparently finds nothing to con- 
demn in the vain display of ostentatious liberality, 
masking actual meanness, to which he refers, and 
which is especially noteworthy as supplying a probable 
standard by which to measure the overpowering 
munificence of many personages who figure in the 
Indian epics. This, too, is not mere conjecture. We 
have a similar instance in the case of King Dasah- 
ratha, referred to at p. 20. 

Although the attractions of Kurukshetra are greatest 
on the occasion of eclipses, a tiny stream of visitors 
to the shrines trickles through Thanesar all the year 
round. Of their visits particular note is taken by the 
Brahmans, who keep a record of the names and family 
connections of the several visitors. On the arrival of 
a pilgrim the Brahmans inquire his name, caste and 
gotra, his native place, his place of residence, and the 
objects of his visit. With these facts in their posses- 
sion some one amongst them is almost sure to be able, 
to produce the record of the visit to Thanesar, at 
some previous time, of some relative of the pilgrim. 
When the Brahman has established this, from one of 
his books, he thereby becomes the family priest, pro 

1 " A Pilgrimage to the Field of the Mahabharata," by Madho 
Earn, B.A., "Punjab Magazine," June, 1890. 



206 THE MAHABHARATA 

tempore, and the privileged guide of the new arrival, 
out of whom he makes as much money as he can. I 
shall not readily forget how the Babu, who kindly 
accompanied me, was pounced upon by the priests ; 
how by the light of a nickering lamp he had read out 
to him all about the visits which had been paid to 
Thanesar by his relatives ; and how, having come to 
the sacred land, he could not well leave it until, even 
in the pitiless December rain, he had to enter a sacred 
tank and take sundry dips under the water, while the 
Brahman, standing on the bank in the shelter of some 
trees, repeated the mantras which gave, as it were, 
the approval of the church to this pilgrimage of his to 
Brahmavarta. 



APPENDIX I 



The " Bhagavatgita " or Divine Song 

"How much more admirable the Bhagvat-Gita than all the 
ruins of the East ! " — H. D. Thoreau. 

It is undoubtedly in religious speculation that the 
genius of the Indian people has risen to the highest 
level of its possibilities. And one of the noblest pro- 
ducts and best specimens of this theological spirit is 
the " Bhagavatgita," or Divine Song. The date of this 
grand philosophical poem is very doubtful. European 
scholars generally consider that it has no claim to 
great antiquity, and that it was composed after the 
commencement of the Christian era ; some of them 
even hold that it bears unmistakable traces of the in- 
fluence of Christian doctrine, and evidence of the 
acquaintance of its author with the Christian scrip- 
tures. On the other hand, some Indian scholars 
endeavour to assign a high antiquity to the poem, and 
suggest that what resemblance there may be between 
the ideas in the " Gita " and in the sacred books of the 
Christians, must have been borrowed by the latter 
from Hindu sources. 1 

1 Vide Dr. Lorinser's Essay on the subject in the " Indian 
Antiquary," vol. ii. and the reply thereto prefixed to the transla- 
tion of the "Bhagavatgita," by Kashi Nath Trimbak Telang, 
M.A., LL.B. 



208 THE MAHABHARATA 

The "Bhagavatgita " early attracted the attention 
of Europeans, and was translated into English by Sir 
Charles Wilkins in the time of Warren Hastings, who 
himself wrote an introduction to it. Wilkins' transla- 
tion has been followed by those of Thompson and 
Davis, and by Sir Edwin Arnold's metrical version 
entitled " The Song Celestial." The poem has been 
rendered into both Latin and Greek, and into most of 
the leading languages of Europe, and has secured the 
highest encomiums possible from literary and philo- 
sophical men in all countries, on account of its lofty 
tone and striking conceptions. 

The reader will remember that the " Bhagavatgita " 
is a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, on the eve 
of the tremendous struggle at Kurukshetra, and that 
the dialogue arose out of the refusal of the latter to 
take part in a contest destined to lead to such unpre- 
cedented slaughter of kinsfolk. 

It appears from the " Gita " that Arjuna was not 
only moved by feelings of tenderness towards his 
kinsmen, but was appalled at the thought of the far- 
reaching consequences of the impending slaughter of 
so many men. His prescient mind foresaw that the 
wholesale destruction of the Kshatriyas would tend to 
serious immorality amongst their women, and thus 
lead to that most dreadful of all calamities — the 
mingling of different castes ! Such an evil was not to 
be contemplated, except with the extremest religious 
horror, since so great a sin as a confusion of castes 
would inevitably lead men to the hell prepared for the 
wicked, and even entail the fall of ancestral spirits 
from the religion of the blessed, "their rites of Pinda 
and water ceasing" through the defilement of their 
descendants. This was a terrible prospect to face, but 
a more immediate if less weighty objection presented 
itself to Arjuna in a doubt as to whether it was lawful 
for him to contend with his ancient relative Bhisma 



THE BHAGAVATGITA OR DIVINE SONG 209 

and his Brahman preceptor Drona, both of whom 
were eminently worthy of his highest respect. 1 

Krishna proceeds to overcome Arjuna's scruples, 
first by dwelling upon the indestructibility of the soul, 
and then by insisting that the duty of a Kshatriya 
being to fight, it was right and proper for Arjuna to 
take part in the battle, regardless of consequences. 
He further assumes the responsibility for the deeds 
that may be done by Arjuna at his suggestion. On 
these points Krishna says: "Those that are really 
wise grieve neither for the dead nor the living. It is 
not that I or you or those rulers of men never were, 
or that all of us shall not hereafter be. ... As a 
man casting off robes that are worn out putteth on 
others that are new, so the embodied (soul) casting off 
bodies that are worn out entereth other bodies that 
are new. Weapons cleave it not, fire consume th it 
not, the waters do not drench it nor doth the wind 
waste it. . . . There is no (objective) existence of 
anything that is distinct from the soul, nor non-exist- 
ence of anything possessing the virtues of the soul." 

Plainly the life of the individual was, according to 
Krishna's teaching, of little account, and this is strictly 
in harmony with Brahmanical ideas. To comprehend 
such an attitude of mind it is absolutely necessary to 
guard carefully against the mistake of supposing that 
the Hindu conception of the indestructibility of the 
soul is the same as the Christian idea of the im- 
mortality of the individual spirit. In the opinion of 
the Hindu the individual soul is part of the world- 
soul, a sort of animating force which may be joined, 
on an unlimited number of successive occasions, to 
any corporeal frame, high or low, adapting itself to 
the conditions of its dwelling-house. Except when 

1 Arjuna had apparently forgotten that he had already en- 
countered and defeated these venerable elders of his in the inter- 
ests of the King of Panchala (p. 162). 

P 



210 THE MAHABHARATA 

joined to matter of some sort, gross or subtle, it is 
void of self-consciousness. 1 Conscious existence in 
the estimation of the Hindu being a distinct and 
positive evil, the object and desire of every sentient 
being should be to obtain final and" complete extinction 
of separate individual consciousness by emancipation 
from the trammels of matter through suppression of 
all the senses. Thus far in regard to Arjuna's objec- 
tion to the impending wholesale slaughter of his 
Kshatriya kinsmen. But other subtle questions of 
theology arise in the course of the colloquy which 
Krishna proceeds to elucidate and settle for his dear 
friend and disciple. 

We do not propose to follow, step by step, the 
intricacies of the dialogue, but merely to set forth, 
as far as we can disentangle them from the theological 
mysticism in which they are involved, the fundamental 
doctrines and precepts inculcated by Krishna on this 
occasion. 

Work or labour, in any form, has always in Brah- 
manical theology been regarded as an evil. Krishna, 
too, recognizes it as such, though he holds it to be 
tolerable and even unobjectionable in certain cases. 
Work for its own sake or for the attainment of any 
object is undesirable, though it is lawful to do such 
work as may be necessary for the performance of 
sacrifices 2 or the support of one's body ; but even 

1 As in sacrifices the gods derived sustenance from the ethereal 
portion of the burnt -offering, so, no doubt, the corporeal frame 
(especially when cremated) supplied an ethereal one for the dis- 
embodied soul, which was not yet entirely freed from the 
trammels of matter though released from the bonds of its grosser 
forms. 

2 There is a most important reason in favour of the special 
exception in regard to the performance of work in the case of 
sacrifices, for, as Krishna explains : " From food are all creatures ; 
from rain is the production of food ; rain is produced from sacri- 
fice ; and sacrifice is the outcome of work." 



THE BHAGAVATGITA OR DIVINE SONG 211 

this work should be done without thought of reward. 
As to Vedic rites, i.e., the old ceremonial observances, 
these duly carried out lead, no doubt, to the attain- 
ment of pleasure and power, and even heaven itself 
for a time. 1 But the highest attainable good — absorp- 
tion in the Supreme Being, and consequent emancipation 
from re-births — cannot be obtained by even Vedic rites. 
It is only to be reached by knowledge or by faith. 
Now both the terms knowledge and faith require special 
elucidation. What then is the nature of this know- 
ledge which is so efficacious for emancipation ? Not 
assuredly what the Western world understands by that 
term, but something very different, viz., subjugation 
of the senses and a complete suppression of all affec- 
tions and dislikes, all hopes and fears, all desires and 
aversions, all pride and humility. This condition of 
utter indifference to every thing, sensual or intel- 
lectual, is the state of knowledge leading to absorption 
in the Supreme Being or world- soul. 2 

1 Neither the joys of heaven nor the pains of hell could, in 
the view of Hindu theologians, be eternal. When an embodied 
soul has, by good actions, austerities, etc., acquired sufficient 
merit, it is permitted to taste the joys of heaven for a length of 
time proportional to its deserts. When these are exhausted it 
returns to be born again on this earth. Similarly the embodied 
soul whose evil deeds deserve punishment serves its time in hell 
and then returns to be re-born on the earth. In either case 
there is after re-birth no recollection of previous existences or of 
former joys and sorrows. But, in heaven or in hell, a recollec- 
tion would be retained of the last state on earth, of which, 
indeed, the celestial or infernal condition would be only a sort 
of continuation. 

2 " Absence of vanity, absence of ostentation, abstention from 
injury, forgiveness, uprightness, devotion to preceptor, purity, 
constancy, self-restraint, indifference to objects of sense, absence 
of egoism, perception of the misery and evil of birth, death, decrepi- 
tude and disease, freedom from attachment, absence of sympathy 
for son, wife, home, and the rest, and constant equanimity of 
heart on attainment of good and evil, unswerving devotion to 
me without meditation on anything else, frequenting of lonely 



212 THE MAHABHARATA 

One method of arriving at this blissful condition, 
though not the shortest or most certain, is through 
the Yoga system, which meets with the approval of 
Krishna, who gives general directions as to how the 
devotee, eating little, should sit in some lonely place ; 
how he should concentrate his gaze on the tip of his 
nose ; how he should mingle the upward and the 
downward life breath; " and how, finally renouncing 
all desires without exception that are born of resolves, 
restraining the entire group of the senses on all sides 
by mind alone, he should by slow degrees become 
quiescent, (aided) by (his) understanding, controlled 
by patience, and then, directing his mind to self, should 
think of nothing" When the devotee arrives at this 
stage he is emancipated, for surely he has found true 
knowledge ! While thus indicating the inefficiency of 
the Vedas for final emancipation, and while bestowing 
only a qualified commendation upon the Yoga system, 
Krishna inculcates very forcibly the doctrine of the 
efficacy of faith and, above all, faith in himself which, 
it would seem, it is the special object of the dialogue 
to bring into prominence. For himself Krishna 
claimed that he was " the productive cause of the 
entire universe and also its destroyer." He asserted 
that he was " the beginning, the middle, and the end 
of beings," and that there was "nothing higher than 
himself." To give weight to his claims the god 
vouchsafed to show himself to Arjuna in " his supreme 
sovereign form, with many mouths and eyes, many 
wondrous aspects, many celestial ornaments, many 

places, distaste for concourse of men, constancy in the knowledge 
of the relation of the individual self to the supreme, perception 
of the object of the knowledge of truth — all this is called know- 
ledge, all that which is contrary to this is ignorance. That which 
i3 the object of knowledge I will (now) declare (to thee) know- 
ing which, one obtaineth immortality. (It is) the supreme 
Brahma, having no beginning, who is said to be neither existent 
nor non-existent, etc., etc." — Krishna, in " Bhagavatgita." 



THE BHAGAVATGITA OR DIVINE SONG 213 

celestial weapons uplifted, wearing celestial garlands 
and robes (and) with unguents of celestial fragrance, 
full of every wonder, resplendent, infinite, with faces 
turned on all sides. If the splendour of a thousand 
suns were to burst forth at once in the sky (then) 
that would be like the splendour of that mighty one. 
The son of Panda then beheld there in the body of 
that god of gods the entire universe divided and sub- 
divided into many parts, all collected together. Then 
Dhananjaya (Arjuna), filled with amazement, and with 
hair standing on end, bowing with (his) head, with 
joined hands, addressed the god. 

" Arjuna said : I behold all the gods, God, as 
also all the varied hosts of creatures (and) Brahma 
seated on (his) lotus seat, and all the Eishis and the 
celestial snakes. I behold thee with innumerable 
arms, stomachs, mouths (and) eyes, on every side, 
thou of infinite forms. Neither end, nor middle, nor 
also beginning of them do I behold, lord of the 
universe, thou of universal form. Bearing (thy) 
diadem, mace, and discus, a mass of energy glowing 
on all sides, do I behold thee that art hard to look at, 
endued on all sides with the effulgence of the blazing 
fire or the sun, and immeasurable. Thou art in- 
destructible (and) the supreme object of this universe. 
Thou art without decay, the guardian of eternal virtue, 
I regard thee to be the eternal (male) being. I behold 
thee to be without beginning, mean, end, to be of 
infinite prowess, of innumerable arms, having the sun 
and the moon for thy eyes, the blazing fire for thy 
mouth, and heating this universe with energy thy 
own. For the space betwixt heaven and earth is per- 
vaded by thee alone, as also all the points of the 
horizon ! At sight of this marvellous and fierce form 
of thine, supreme soul, the triple world trembleth. 
For these hosts of gods are entering thee ! Some afraid 
are praying with joined hands. Saying, Hail to thee — 



214 THE MAHABHARATA 

the hosts of great Eishis and Siddhas praise thee with 
copious hymns of praise. The Rudras, the Adityas, 
the Vasus, they that are (called) the Saddhyas, the 
Vic/was, the Acwins, the Maruts, also the Ushmapas, 
the Gandharvas, the Yakshas, the Asuras, the hosts 
of Siddhyas, behold thee and are all amazed. Be- 
holding thy mighty form with many mouths and eyes, 
mighty-armed one, with innumerable arms, thighs 
and feet, many stomachs (and) terrible in consequence 
of many tusks, all creatures are affrighted, and I also. 
Indeed, touching the very skies, of blazing radiance, 
many-hued, mouth wide open, with eyes that are 
blazing and large, beholding thee, Vishnu with 
(my) inner soul trembling (in fright) I can no longer 
command courage and peace of mind. Beholding thy 
mouths that are terrible in consequence of (their) 
tusks, and that are fierce as the (all-destroying) fire 
at the end of the Yuga, I cannot recognize the points 
of the horizon nor can I command peace of mind. 
Be gracious, god of gods, thou that art the refuge 
of the universe. And all these sons of Dhritarashtra, 
together with the hosts of kings, and Bhisma and 
Drona and also Suta's this son (Kama) accompanied 
by even the principal warriors of our side, are quickly 
entering thy terrible mouths rendered fierce by thy 
tusks ! Some, with their heads crushed, are seen 
striking at the interstices of (thy) teeth. As many 
currents of water flowing through different channels 
roll rapidly towards the ocean, so these heroes of the 
world of men enter thy mouths that flame all around. 
As moths with increasing speed rush for (their own) 
destruction to the blazing fire, so also do (these) 
people, with unceasing speed, enter thy mouths for 
their destruction. Swallowing all these men from 
every side thou lickest them with thy flaming mouths. 
Filling the whole universe with (thy) energy, thy 
fierce splendours, Vishnu, are heating (everything). 



THE BHAGAVATGITA OR DIVINE SONG 215 

Tell me who thou art of (such) fierce form. I bow to 
thee, chief of the gods, be gracious to me ! I desire 
to know thee that art the primeval one, for I do not 
understand thy actions." 

After such an overwhelming argument addressed 
to the senses of his disciple, after such an astounding 
proof that he alone is not only the universal soul of 
nature but the universe itself, Krishna discloses to 
Arjuna the efficacy of faith above both works and con- 
templation. Thus says the god : " Fix thy heart on 
me alone, place thy understanding on me. Hereafter 
then shalt thou dwell in me. There is no doubt (in 
this);" and again: "Exceedingly dear art thou to 
me, therefore I will declare what is for thy benefit. 
. . . Forsaking all (religious) duties come to me as 
thy sole refuge, I will deliver thee from all sins." 

To assert the doctrine of the efficacy of faith is 
obviously the special object of the Gita; but, with 
the conciliatory spirit of Hinduism, it is inculcated 
without too great a rupture with the orthodox notions 
in respect to those time-honoured props and refuges 
of the pious Hindu, — the Vedas and Yogaism. Both 
these are, however, shorn of a good deal of their im- 
portance by comparison with the new mode of attain- 
ing heaven and final emancipation — through faith in 
Krishna. 

Though the caste-system is strongly upheld in the 
" Bhagavatgita," and the practices of the Yogis sanc- 
tioned, many of the most liberal and lofty sentiments 
find expression in this highly remarkable poem; as 
when Krishna says : " Whatever form (of godhead or 
myself) any worshipper desireth to worship with faith, 
that faith of his unto that form I render steady. 
Endued with that faith he payeth his adoration to 
that (form) and obtaineth from that all his desires, 
since all those are ordained by me. The fruits, how- 
ever, of those persons endued with little intelligence 



216 THE MAHABHARATA 

are perishable. They that worship the divinities go 
to the divinities, while they that worship me come 
even to me." Again: "Even those devotees who, 
endued with faith, worship other godheads, even they, 
son of Kunti, worship me alone, though irregularly." 
And in another place: "In whatever manner men 
come to me in the self-same manner do I accept 
them." Krishna also says: "I am alike to all crea- 
tures, there is none hateful to me, none dear. They, 
however, that worship me with reverence are in me 
and I also am in them." 

In this serene and lofty impartiality of sentiment 
the unknown author of the " Gita " has reached a 
level of generous and noble theology not to be sur- 
passed and probably never before expressed. But, 
alas ! it was impossible for him to stand alone upon 
this giddy height of calm philosophy, and he descends 
to a lower plain of sympathetic insight when his 
Krishna declares, that " there are two kinds of created 
beings in this world, viz., the godlike and the demoniac. 
These latter are impure, given over to their desires, 
and unholy, asserting that the universe is void of 
truth and guiding principle, and even without a ruler. 
Wedded to vanity, power, pride, lust and wrath, these 
revilers hate me in their own bodies and those of 
others. Those haters (of me), cruel, the vilest among 
men and unholy, I hurl continually down into demoniac 
wombs. Coming into demoniac wombs, deluded birth 
after birth, they, son of Kunti, without attaining to 
me, go down to the vilest state." 

In regard to divine incarnation, which is an old 
accepted idea in Hinduism, Krishna says: "Many 
births of mine have passed away, Arjuna, as also 
of thine ; those all I know, but thou dost not, 
chastiser of foes ! Though I am unborn and of essence 
that knoweth no deterioration, though (I am) the lord 
of creatures; still, relying on my own (material) 



THE BHAGAVATGITA OR DIVINE SONG 217 

nature, I take birth by my own (powers) of illusion. 
Whensoever, Bharata, loss of piety occurreth and 
the rise of impiety, on those occasions do I create 
myself. For the protection of the righteous, for also 
the destruction of evil-doers, for the sake of establish- 
ing piety, I am born age after age." 

Whether the author of the " Bhagavatgita " bor- 
rowed ideas from Christianity or not, this, at least, is 
certain, that Krishna-worship is a comparatively new 
phase of Hinduism ; that its doctrine of salvation or 
final emancipation by faith is also comparatively new ; 
and that the tendency of this doctrine of faith, as 
taught in the " Gita," is to wean men from rites and 
ceremonies, and to discourage them from the practice 
of Yoga, 

But since it seems to be a characteristic of each 
successive stage of Hinduism to keep on amicable 
terms with those that have preceded it, the " Gita " 
endeavours to lead men to more doctrine of faith in 
Krishna, without more disparagement of orthodox ideas 
and practices than appeared absolutely necessary for 
the object in view — hence the qualified approval of 
Vedic rites and of Yogaism which we find in this 
treatise. 

Of the "Bhagavatgita," which has been extolled as 
a complete system of Indian religious philosophy, this 
brief note will, I believe, give a sufficient idea. 1 It is, 
as regards Hinduism, an eclectic system upon which 

1 Those who have a leaning towards esoterics and mysticism 
may read " Discourse on the Bhagavatgita," by T. Subba Row, 
B.A., B.L., F.T.S. (Bombay, 1888), from which they will learn, 
pp. 56-58, that the Pandavas represent in reality the five ele- 
ments which constitute man or rather Humanity ; that " the 
Kauravas are no other than the evil propensities of man, his 
vices and their allies," and that " the philosophy of Krishna 
teaches Arjuna that he must conquer these, however closely 
related to him they may be, before he can secure the kingdom 
or the mastery over self." 



218 THE MAHABHARATA 

has been grafted a new principle, the doctrine of 
salvation by faith, which may or may not be of foreign 
origin. Its lofty ideas and transcendental philosophy 
appeal with subtle force to the higher feelings of the 
thoughtful Hindu. I have known a clever young 
student of the " Gita " so powerfully affected by its 
teaching as to lose mental balance to the extent of 
believing himself to be Arjuna. When this hallucina- 
tion passed away his one burning desire was to retire 
from the world in order to live the life of the Eishis 
of old. 

For my own part I leave this highest attainment of 
Indian religious philosophy with mingled feelings of 
admiration and sadness. 

In every nation men have allowed their speculative 
imaginations to play around the great mystery of the 
Universe. The author of the " Gita " has dreamed 
his dream as well as the others ; and, like Plato x and 
the rest, has presented as a solution of the grand 
problem of existence his own fancies and his own 
guess-work. And these dreams, fancies and guesses — 
labelled theology or philosophy as the case may be — 
have been accepted as eternal verities and passed 
down from generation to generation, only to be super- 
seded, in their turn, by other equally substantial 
fancies, equally irrefragable verities. 

In leaving the " Gita," however, let us at least 
admit that the Indian poet's dream was not deficient 
in nobility of sentiment and grandeur of conception. 

1 "Kepublic," book x., chapters 614-621. 



APPENDIX II 



The Chukning of the Ocean 

Once upon a time the gods, having practised penances 
according to the prescribed ordinances, assembled in 
solemn conclave on the golden summit of Mount 
Meru, to consider how they might obtain Amrita — the 
water of life. " Seeing the celestial assembly in 
anxious consultation, Narayana ' said to Brahma : 
11 Do thou churn the ocean with the Suras (gods) and 
the Asuras. By doing so, Amrita shall be obtained, 
together with all drugs and all gems." 

In order to carry out these instructions the gods 
uprooted from its base the towering mountain named 
Mandara, 2 and placed it in the sea on the back of the 
tortoise king. This was their churning pole, and for 
a cord they used the mighty hooded serpent, Vasuki. 
The Asuras taking hold of him by the head and the 
gods by the tail commenced the churning of the ocean. 
As they laboured in their gigantic task of whirling 
Mandara round and round in the seething ocean, the 
serpent's body became heated by the friction to which 
it was subjected, and volumes of black vapour, mingled 
with red flames, issued from his awful mouth. These 

1 " The name as commonly used applies to Vishnu, and is 
that under which he was first worshipped." — Dowson's "Classical 
Dictionary of Hindu Mythology." 

2 Of Mandara the poet says : " Upwards it riseth eleven 
thousand Yojanas and descendeth downwards as much. 



220 THE MAHABHARATA 

vapours were condensed in the upper regions and fell 
in refreshing showers upon the tired gods. With the 
rain came abundance of flowers shaken from the trees 
of rapidly revolving Mandara. 

As the work proceeded with more and more vigour, 
the inhabitants of the troubled ocean were destroyed 
in great numbers, and the forests on the sides of 
rotating Mandara took fire from the friction of the 
branches of the trees which were driven into conflict 
with one another. However, this conflagration was 
extinguished by Indra, and the churning was continued. 
Then the gums of various trees and many gems began 
to mingle with the water, but the sought for nectar 
itself did not appear. Almost spent with their exer- 
tions, the gods appealed to Narayana for help, and he, 
renewing their vigour, directed them again to " insert 
the mountain and churn the waters." 

Their fresh and vigorous efforts were crowned with 
success. First of all the moon emerged from the 
waters, then " Lakshmi " l dressed in white, and wine, 
and the white steed, and then the celestial gem, 
Kaustuva, which graces the breast of Narayana. 
Lakshmi, wine, and the steed fleet as the mind, all 
came before the gods on high. Then arose the divine 
Dhanvantari himself with the white vessel of nectar in 
his hand. And, seeing him, the Asuras set up a loud 
cry, saying : ' Ye have taken all, he must be ours.' ' 

Although the object of their quest, the nectar of 
immortality, had been produced, the churning was 
continued apparently in the hope of further treasures. 
Airavata, a huge elephant, now emerged from the 
troubled waters, and was at once appropriated by Indra. 
But after his appearance a baleful poison, the terrible 
Kalakuta, "blazing like a flame mixed with fumes," 
began to overspread the earth and to threaten the 

1 The goddess of fortune. 



222 THE MAHABHARATA 

destruction of the universe. At this perilous juncture, 
Mahadeva, at Brahma's solicitation, "swallowed the 
poison and held it in his throat/' which acquired and 
ever after retained a blue colour. Hence Mahadeva 
is often known by the name Nilakantha, the blue- 
throated. 

The Asuras having got possession of Dhanvantari 
with the vessel of nectar, w 7 ere preparing to defend 
their acquisition by force of arms, but Narayana, 
assuming the bewitching form of lovely Maya, easily 
induced the Daityas, ravished with her charms, to part 
with their treasure. 

As soon as the deception practised upon them 
became apparent, the Daityas and Danavas pursued 
the gods, who, in the meantime, had been hurriedly 
taking draughts of this wonderful elixir of immortality. 

Along with them a Danava, named Eahu, in the 
disguise of a god, was also slyly partaking of the 
Amrita, but, before the nectar had gone beyond his 
throat, he was detected by the sun and moon and had 
his head severed from his body by the discus of 
Narayana. 

The severed head of Eahu was, of course, immortal, 
and ascended into the sky with loud cries. And ever 
since that eventful day it has pursued the sun and 
moon with revengeful feelings, swallowing them up 
periodically, as is evident in the solar and lunar 
eclipses which have attracted the awed attention of 
mankind through the ages. 

To these events succeeded the commencement of 
a terrible battle between the gods on one side, and the 
Asuras, Daityas and the Danavas on the other. The 
gods, being victorious, carried the Amrita to heaven, 
and, " offering due respect to Mandara, placed him on 
his own base." 

Such, in brief, is the wonderfully grand old myth 
which could have been conceived by no common mind, 



THE CHURNING OF THE OCEAN 223 

which is still believed in, and gives rise to practices 
and ceremonies still observed by two hundred millions 
of the Indian people, for whom even now it is the 
malignant Eahu that periodically threatens the de- 
struction of the greater and lesser lights of the firma- 
ment. On these dire occasions the Hindus beat their 
drums and blow their conchs to terrify away the demon. 
They throw away their earthen cooking-pots, observe 
a rigid fast during the period of obstruction, and crowd 
the bathing- places for a purifying plunge as soon as 
the light of sun or moon is once again fully restored 
to the delighted eyes of mankind. 



APPENDIX III 



The Story of Nala and Damayanti 

There was once a powerful King of the Nishadhas, 
named Nala, who was as beautiful as the god of love 
himself. He was, moreover, an honourable man, 
highly accomplished, and especially well-versed in the 
management of horses, but he had a weakness for 
dice. 

Contemporary with Nala was Bhima, King of the 
Vidharbas, a formidable monarch, and father of Dama- 
yanti, the most lovely maiden in the world. Fame had 
carried to Nala the report of Damayanti's unrivalled 
charms and had made him quite love-sick. The fair 
lady, too, had often been told of the manly beauty and 
grace of the King of the Nishadhas, and had had a 
tender chord in her heart touched by what she had 
heard. Thus were these two young people actually in 
love with each other, although they had never met or 
even exchanged glances. 

The enamoured king naturally sought solitude ; and 
one day, while moodily lounging in the inner gardens 
of his palace, he saw some strange-looking swans with 
golden wings. He caught one of them with his hands. 
The bird immediately addressed his captor, asking to 
be spared, and promising to speak to Damayanti about 
him "in such a way that she will not ever desire to 
have any other person for her lord." Of course the 
swan was liberated there and then and, proceeding at 

Q 



226 THE MAHABHARATA 

once along with his fellows to the land of the Vid- 
harbas, alighted in the gardens where Damayanti was 
sporting with her maids. The fair princess was eager 
to catch the strange birds as soon as she observed 
them ; so she and her attendants began to run after 
the golden-winged swans, who fled in all directions 
without taking wing. One of these birds led the eager 
Damayanti away from her companions, and then, 
seizing the opportunity, told the charming girl about 
Nala and his beauty, winding up with these words : 
" Thou also art a jewel among thy sex as Nala is the 
prime among men. The union of the best with the 
best is happy." To which the gratified princess 
replied : "Do thou speak thus unto Nala also." 

The adventure with the swan had such an effect 
upon the princess that she became melancholy, pale- 
faced, and lean. Her thoughts were of Nala only, and 
she could find no pleasure in her surroundings. Her 
father noticed the change with much anxiety and, after 
weighing the matter, concluded that the best thing he 
could do would be to find a husband for his daughter. 

He accordingly gave notice, far and wide, to the 
kings and princes of the land that Damayanti would 
hold her swayamvara on a certain date. 

From every direction suitors thronged to Bhima's 
capital in the hope of winning the much-coveted beauty 
whose fame filled the whole earth. The celestial 
Kishi, Narada, on a casual visit to Indra's Heaven, 
made passing reference to Damayanti's transcendent 
beauty and to her approaching swayamvara. The 
gods, excited by his words, exclaimed in rapture : 
" We also will go there," and four of them, the Loka- 
palas or guardians of the world — Indra, Yama, Yaruna 
and Kuvera — set out without delay for the country of 
the Vidharbas, accompanied by their attendants. 

On the way they met the handsome and virtuous 
Nala bent on the same errand. Leaving their celestial 



THE STORY OF NALA AND DAMAYANTI 227 

cars iii the sky, they descended to the earth and entered 
into converse with the king. Without revealing them- 
selves to him they cunningly got him to promise to 
help them, and when he had done so requested him to 
go to Damayanti and inform her that the Lokapalas 
were amongst the suitors for her hand, and to request 
her to choose one of them for her lord. 

Poor Nala explained his own feelings with respect to 
the fair princess, and the "hopes with which he was 
hastening to the swayamvara. He also protested that 
it would be impossible for him to have an interview 
with Damayanti in her well-guarded palace. But the 
gods removed this last difficulty, Indra simply saying : 
" Thou shalt be able to enter." And so it proved ; for 
it was not long before Nala found himself in the inner 
apartments of the palace. His wonderful beauty 
created a great sensation amongst the astonished 
women of the zenana. Damayanti was the first to 
recover from the surprise of his unexpected presence 
in the inner apartments, and smilingly addressed the 
intruder in these by no means harsh words : " What 
art thou, thou of faultless features, that hast come 
here, awakening my love. sinless one, hero of 
celestial form, I am anxious to know who thou art that 
hast come hither, and why thou hast come hither. 
And how it is that thou hast not been discovered by 
anyone, considering that my apartments are well 
guarded * and the king's mandates are stern." 

Nala with a sad heart told her who he was, and 
honourably discharged the distasteful duty imposed 
upon him by the celestials. Undazzled by the pro-- 

1 If these poems are really ancient, I think we need not have 
any hesitation in concluding that the Zenana system was in force 
in India in early times, and was not introduced, as many 
Hindus declare, after the conquest of India by the Muham- 
madans. Possibly the purdah was made more strict after the 
Muslims established themselves south of the Himalayas. 



228 THE MAHABHARATA 

spect of having a god for her husband, Damayanti, 
with charming simplicity, said to Nala with a smile : 
" king, love me and command me what I shall do 
for thee. Myself and what else of wealth is mine are 
thine. . . . If thou forsake me who adore thee, for thy 
sake will I resort to poison or fire, or water, or the 
rope." Nala dwelt upon the danger of offending the 
gods, and advised the princess to choose one of her 
celestial suitors for her lord and no blame would 
attach to him ; but she told him to come himself to 
the swayamvara and she would there give him her 
hand in the presence of the celestials. 

Nala returned to the Lokapalas, who were eager in 
their inquiries about the details of his mission. He 
faithfully related what had passed between himself 
and Damayanti, even so far as to tell them that the 
maiden had expressed her determination to choose 
him for her husband. Having discharged his obliga- 
tions with strict fidelity, Nala left the issue in the 
hands of the gods. 

On the day of the swayamvara the astonished 
princess saw, on entering the hall, not one but five 
Nalas before her, all seated together. Unable to dis- 
criminate from amongst them the King of the Ni- 
shadhas,the fond maiden tremblingly prostrated herself 
before the five and, in an appeal full of sweet confid- 
ence, begged the gods to reveal themselves to her, as 
she had in her heart chosen Nala for her lord. Touched 
by her simple prayer, the Lokapalas resumed their 
celestial attributes, and the fair maiden thereupon 
bashfully caught the hem of Nala's garment and 
placed the garland round his neck. The gods were 
pleased with the issue, and generously bestowed many 
boons upon their successful rival, who, appreciating 
the great honour that had been shown him, addressed 
Damayanti in these words : " Since thou, blessed 
one, hast chosen a mortal in the presence of the 



THE STORY OF NALA AND DAMAYANTI 229 

celestials, know me for a husband ever obedient to thy 
command. And, thou of sweet smiles, truly do I 
tell thee this that as long as life continueth in this 
body of mine I will remain thine and thine alone." 
The charming damsel, of course, made a suitable re- 
sponse. Everything was arranged satisfactorily, the 
wedding was duly celebrated, and the King of the 
Nishadhas returned home with his lovely bride. 

But, as the course of true love never does run 
smooth, there was sorrow awaiting the young couple. 
It happened that, as the gods were returning from 
Daniayantr's swayamvara, they met Kali with Dwapara 
on the way to the capital of the Vidharbas. It was to 
seek Damayanti's hand that Kali 1 was journeying 
thither, and it was with great displeasure that he 
learned that the swayamvara was over and that Nala 
had obtained the prize. 

In his wicked heart he planned to ruin the happi- 
ness of Nala, and with that object in view proceeded 
to his city. Watching his opportunity — which pre- 
sented itself in the neglect by the king of some trifling 
ceremonial observance — Kali entered his person and 
took complete possession of him. The fiend also 
stirred up Pushkara to challenge Nala to play with 
him with dice. Nala could not refuse, and, being under 
the influence of Kali, gambled recklessly and, needless 
to say, unsuccessfully ; for the dice were not ordinary 
dice, but Dwapara himself transformed. The gambling 
match lasted for months, and Nala lost everything he 
possessed, including his kingdom. During the con- 
tinuance of the match Nala was like one deprived of 
reason, so his wife sent her two children away to her 
parents in charge of a faithful charioteer. His success- 
ful opponent suggested that he might now stake Dama- 
yanti as he had lost everything else ; but Nala, his 

1 This Kali is the Kali-yuga personified as the spirit of evil 
(Dowson's " Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology"). 



230 THE MAHABHARATA 

heart full of rage, rose with silent dignity and, stripping 
himself of all his ornaments, left the city. Damayanti, 
clad in a single piece of cloth — a sari, no doubt — 
followed him into exile. 

Pushkara issued an order that no one should assist 
Nala under pain of death, so the ex-king and his con- 
sort were left to shift for themselves. In the hope of 
capturing some wild birds in the wood Nala threw his 
cloth over them, but they rose and flew away with it, 
leaving him naked. He now shared Damayanti's 
single garment, and the pair were soon in the greatest 
extremities of distress. He could not humble himself 
to seek the assistance of his wife's people, but, think- 
ing that if she were alone, Damayanti might find an 
asylum with them, Nala, instigated still by vindictive 
Kali, abandoned his lovely wife one night in the lone- 
some forest. Her grief and despair upon finding her- 
self deserted were most pathetic. With loud lamenta- 
tions she wandered hither and thither like a maniac, 
and came unexpectedly upon a huge serpent, who 
quietly coiled himself about her gentle form and would 
have killed her very soon, had not a hunter come to 
her rescue and, with his sharp sword, cut off the ser- 
pent's head. Inquiries and explanations followed, 
with the result that, " beholding that beautiful woman 
clad in half a garment, with deep bosom and round 
hips and limbs delicate and faultless, and face re- 
sembling the full moon, and eyes graced with curved 
eyelashes, and speech sweet as honey, the hunter 
became inflamed with desire." But virtuous Dama- 
yanti in great anger repulsed the wretch and cursed 
him so that he fell down dead at her feet. 

Alone in the vast forests, peopled by wild beasts and 
infested by thieves and Mleccha- tribes, poor bewildered 
Damayanti wandered about in quest of Nala ; asking, 
in her trouble, the fierce tiger and the silent mountain 
to tell her where her lord had gone. After wandering 



THE STORY OF NALA AND DAMAYANTI 231 

about for three days and three nights the unfortunate 
queen came to the delightful asylum of some ascetics, 
and, entering it fearlessly but with great humility, 
she was welcomed by the holy men, who, struck by 
her beauty, inquired whether she was the presiding 
deity of the forest, the mountain, or the river. 
Damayanti explained her situation and received from 
the ascetics most comforting assurances of early re- 
union with Nala and great future happiness. After 
which "the ascetics with their sacred fires and 
asylum vanished from sight," to the great amazement 
of the queen. 

Further wanderings in the denser parts of the 
forest brought Damayanti into a somewhat open space, 
where she found a party of merchants encamped 
beside a stream with their horses, elephants, and 
other beasts of burden. The merchants could give 
her no information about Nala, for, as the leader of the 
party assured her, she was the only human being 
they had met in those vast forests. However, as they 
were bound for the city of Suvahu, Damayanti 
attached herself to the caravan. The distance to 
be traversed was evidently a very long one and the 
forest very extensive ; for, after they had proceeded 
many days, they were still in the woods, and one 
evening encamped on the border of a lovely lotus- 
covered lake. In the dead of night a herd of wild 
elephants coming down to the lake discovered the tame 
elephants belonging to the merchants and instantly 
made a furious onslaught upon them. Indescribable 
confusion followed. Some members of the party were 
trampled to death under the feet of the mighty beasts, 
some perished by their huge tusks, others fled for 
safety in all directions. The fugitives concealed them- 
selves in the thickets or took refuge in the branches of 
trees. Horses, camels and elephants, fighting with 
each other and rushing about in frantic terror, added 



232 THE MAHABHARATA 

to the wild confusion of the dreadful scene of disorder 
and uproar, which was intensified by the outbreak of 
a terrible fire. Amidst the general panic, the shouts 
and cries of men and the noise of wounded and 
furious animals, Damayanti naturally awoke in the 
greatest alarm ; but she soon had occasion for special 
fear for her own personal safety from an unexpected 
quarter. 

" And those of the caravan that had escaped unhurt, 
met together, and asked one another, ' Of what deed of 
ours is this the consequence ? Surely we have failed 
to worship the illustrious Manibhadra, and likewise 
the exalted and graceful Vaisravana, the King of the 
Yakshas, Perhaps we have not worshipped the deities 
that cause calamities, or perhaps we have not paid 
them the first homage. Or perhaps this evil is the 
certain consequence of the birds (we saw) ! Our stars 
are not unpropitious. From what other cause, then, 
hath this disaster come ? ' Others, distressed and 
bereft of wealth and relatives, said, ' That maniac-like 
woman who came amongst this mighty caravan in 
guise that was strange and scarcely human, also, it is 
by her that this dreadful illusion has been pre-arranged. 
Of a certainty, she is a terrible Eakshasa or a Yaksha 
or a Picacha woman. All this evil is her work, what 
need of doubts. If we again see that wicked destroyer 
of merchants, that giver of innumerable woes, we shall 
certainly slay that injurer of ours, with stones, and 
dust, and grass, and wood, and cuffs.' * And hearing 
these dreadful words of the merchants, Damayanti, in 
terror and shame and anxiety, fled into the woods 
apprehensive of evil." 

1 I desire to draw special attention to this interesting passage, 
which, in its native simplicity, throws considerable light upon 
the ideas and sentiments which lie at the root of the practice of 
the worship of the unseen powers who are believed to govern 
the lives of men. 



THE STORY OF NALA AND DAMAYANTI 233 

Damayanti, however, managed to secure the pro- 
tection of some Brahmans who had been travelling 
with the merchants, and in their company succeeded 
in reaching the city of Suvahu. Her strange, unkempt 
and almost maniac-like appearance, coupled with her 
scanty clothing, excited the curiosity of the citizens, 
who rudely followed her about. Her painful situation 
in the street of the town, and her beauty, which 
nothing could destroy, attracted the attention of the 
queen-mother, who was looking out of one of the 
windows of the palace. As a consequence Damayanti 
was sent for and installed in the household as a sort 
of h amble companion to the princess. 

We have now to trace the fortunes of Nala. After 
he had deserted Damayanti he came upon a mighty 
conflagration in the forests. From the midst of the 
fire a voice addressed him thus : " righteous Nala, 
come hither." Nala obeyed without fear or hesitation, 
and found in the midst of the fire a mighty Naga or 
serpent, lying in great coils. The snake explained 
that he was suffering from the curse of a great Eishi 
''of high ascetic merit," whom he had deceived, and 
that he was doomed, under the conditions of the curse, 
to lie where he was until Nala should remove him to 
another place, when he would be free again. The 
snake contracted his dimensions till he was no bigger 
than a man's thumb. Nala took him up and carried 
him to a place free from fire. Here the snake bit 
Nala and resumed his natural form. The effect on 
Nala of the snake's bite was startling indeed, for he 
underwent a strange transformation of person and 
assumed an unprepossessing appearance. The snake 
explained that what had occurred was for Nala's good, 
and advised him to go to Ayodhya and offer his 
services to the king of that city as a charioteer and 
trainer of horses, on condition of receiving instruction 
in the art of gambling. The snake also presented 



234 THE MAHABHARATA 

Nala with a garment, the wearing of which would 
immediately restore him to his proper form. Nala 
did as directed, and was duly installed as king's 
charioteer and superintendent of the royal stables, 
under the name of Yahuka. 

In the meanwhile Brahmans sent out by King 
Bhima, Damayanti's father, were searching the country 
far and wide for the lost couple. One of them met 
Damayanti and recognized her by a remarkable lotus- 
shaped mole which she had between her eyebrows. 
This discovery led to her return to her father's house, 
where her children were being reared in comfort, but 
nothing could console her for the absence of Nala. 
Through her mother she caused Brahmans to go forth 
into all countries, to cry in every assembly, " beloved 
gambler, where hast thou gone, cutting off half of my 
garment, and deserting thy dear and devoted wife 
asleep in the forest," etc. Of course this appeal 
touched Nala — transformed into Vahuka — to the 
heart, and certain remarks which he let fall, to the 
effect that a virtuous woman should not be angry 
with one who had been deprived by birds of his 
garments, and so on, having been reported to Dama- 
yanti, she suspected who that Vahuka really was, 
although so changed in person. 

To bring him to her she had it proclaimed in the 
city of Ayodhya that Damayanti, unaware whether 
Nala was alive or not, had decided to hold the very 
next day another swayamvara, at which she would 
choose a second husband x for herself. 

King Eitupama of Ayodhya desired to be present on 
this occasion, but the distance to Kundina was over one 
hundred yojanas. However, Nala in a most wonderful 
manner managed to do the distance within the ap- 
pointed time, not without adventures on the way and 

1 This shows clearly that widow re-marriage was allowed. 



THE STORY OF NALA AND DAMAYANTI 235 

the acquirement from his royal master of the whole 
science of dice-playing. 

When they arrived at Kundina they found to their 
astonishment that no preparations were being made 
for Damayanti's swayamvara, and discovered that 
they had been deceived by a false report. 

From the remarkable way in which Eitupama's 
chariot came rattling into Ayodhya, Damayanti sus- 
pected that it was driven by Nala and Nala only, but 
she was sore distressed when she saw Vahuka — so 
unlike her dear lord in appearance. Yet, as wonders 
were common in those days and the charioteer might, 
after all, be her dear husband in a natural disguise, she 
opened communication with him through her maid- 
servant, and by various indications satisfied herself 
that Vahuka was no other than her lost Nala. 

With the consent of her father and mother she 
caused Vahuka to be brought to her apartments. She 
received him clad in a piece of red cloth, wearing 
matted locks and covered with dirt and dust. Ex- 
planations followed. The wind-god, invoked by 
Damayanti, testified that it was only to bring Nala to 
herself that the lovely queen had proclaimed her 
swayamvara in Ayodhya, and that she was faultless 
in the matter. Flowers descended from the air and 
celestial kettle-drums began to play. 

Casting away all doubts about Damayanti, Nala 
put on the pure garment which had been given to 
him by the serpent, and thus regained his own 
beautiful form. " And, beholding her righteous lord 
in his own form, Bhima's daughter of faultless limbs 
embraced him, and began to weep aloud. And King 
Nala also embraced Bhima's daughter, devoted to him 
as before, and also his children, and experienced great 
delight. And, burying her face in his bosom, the 
beauteous Damayanti, of large eyes, began to sigh 
heavily, remembering her griefs. And, overwhelmed 



236 THE MAHABHARATA 

with sorrow, that tiger among men stood for some time 
clasping the dust-covered Damayanti of sweet smiles." 
After these events Nala proceeded to his own 
country of the Nishadhas and challenged his brother 
to a game of dice, offering to stake all the wealth he 
had acquired, and lovely Damayanti as well, against 
the kingdom of which he had been dispossessed. He 
gave his brother the choice of an alternative — the dice 
or battle. Pushkara willingly accepted the offer, 
remarking insultingly : " It is evident that Damayanti, 
adorned with this wealth of thine that I will win, will 
wait upon me like an Apsara in heaven upon Indra." 
However, fortune had changed sides. Nala recovered, 
his kingdom, but generously shared it with his unworthy 
brother, and everyone, of course, lived happily there- 
after. 



NOTES 

I. Date of the compilation of the " Mahabharata." — Like 
the "Eamayana," the " Mahabharata " is based on popular 
legends of considerable antiquity which, according to 
European scholars, appear to have been collected together 
into a more or less connected whole at a comparatively 
recent date. 

" The earliest direct evidence of the existence of an epic, 
with the contents of the ' Mahabharata,' comes to us from 
the rhetor Dion Chrysostom, who nourished in the second 
half of the first century a.d. ; and it appears fairly probable 
that the information in question was then quite new, and 
was derived from mariners who had penetrated as far as 
the extreme south of India. . . . Since Megasthenes says 
nothing of this epic, it is not an improbable hypothesis 
that its origin is to be placed in the interval between his 
time and that of Chrysostom ; for what ignorant sailors 
took note of would hardly have escaped his observation, 
more especially if what he narrates of Herakles and his 
daughter Pandai has reference really to Krishna and his 
sister, the wife of Arjuna; if, that is to say, the Pandu 
legend was actually current in his time. ... As to the 
period when the final redaction of the work in its present 
-shape took place, no approach even to direct conjecture is 
in the meantime possible, but, at any rate, it must have 
been some centuries after the commencement of our era." l 

II. Translation of the "Mahabharata" into Persian. — The 

1 " The History of Indian Literature," by Dr. Albrecht Weber, 
pp. 185-188. 



238 THE MAHABHARATA 

following account of the translation of the " Mahabharata " 
into Persian, in the reign of the Mogul Emperor Akbar, is 
worth reading, as it exhibits an estimate of the great epic 
from the standpoint of a bigoted Muslim : 

" In the year 990 His Majesty assembled some learned 
Hindus and gave them directions to write an explanation 
of the ' Mahabharata,' and for several nights he himself 
devoted his attention to explain the meaning to Nakib 
Khan, so that the Khan might sketch out the gisfc of it in 
Persian. On the third night the king sent for me, and 
desired me to translate the 'Mahabharata,' in conjunction 
with Nakib Khan. The consequence was that in three or 
four months I translated two out of the eighteen sections, 
at the puerile absurdities of which the eighteen thousand 
creations may well be amazed. Such injunctions as one 
never heard of — what not to eat, and a prohibition against 
turnips ! But such is my fate, to be employed on such 
works. Nevertheless I console myself with the reflection 
that what is predestined must come to pass. 

" After this, Mulla Shi and Nakib Khan together accom- 
plished a portion, and another was completed by Sultan 
Haji Thanesari by himself. Shaikh Faizi was then directed 
to convert the rough translation into elegant prose and 
verse, but he did not complete more than two sections. 
The Haji aforesaid again wrote it, correcting the errors 
which had appeared in his first translation and settling the 
conjectures which he had hazarded. He had revised a 
hundred sheets, and, nothing being omitted, he was about 
to give the finishing touch when the order was received 
for his dismissal, and he was sent to Bakar. He now 
resides in his own city (Thanesar). Most of the scholars 
who were employed upon this translation are now with 
the Kauravas and Pandavas. May those who survive be 
saved by the mercy of God, and may their repentance be 
accepted. 

" The translation was called ' Razm-nama,' and, when 
fairly engrossed and embellished with pictures, the nobles 
had orders to take copies, with the blessing and favour of 
God. Shaikh Abul Faizi, who had already written against 



THE MAHABHARATA 239 

our religion, wrote the Preface, extending to two sheets. 
God defend us from his infidelities and absurdities." l 

III. English Versions of the " Maliabharata" — For full 
details of this epic the reader may be referred to " The 
1 Mahabharata ' of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa," translated 
into English prose by Pratab Chandra Roy (Calcutta), of 
which several volumes have been published. 

A tolerably detailed account of the poem, with a running 
commentary, occupies about 500 pages of vol. i. of the 
" History of India," by J. Talboys Wheeler. 

A summary of all the eighteen sections of the epic is to 
be found in Sir Monier Williams's " Indian Epic Poetry " 
(Williams and Norgate, 1863). 

1 " Tarikh-i-Badauni " of Abdul Kadir Badauni, Elliot's " Mu- 
hammadan Historians of India," vol. v., pp. 537-538. 



CONCLUDING REMARKS 

Haying presented to the reader the foregoing con- 
densed epitomes of the great Hindu Epics, it only 
remains for me to offer a few brief observations upon 
some of the more abiding features of the national life 
and the religious and moral sentiments of the Hindus, 
as illustrated by these gigantic poems, in which we 
see, as in a mirror, an unconscious reflection of the 
ideas and tendencies, the intellectual cravings and the 
moral instincts, of the age to which they belong. 

It may seem superfluous to remind the reader that 
the "Ramayana " describes the adventures of Rama, 
including amongst them a war which he undertook in 
order to avenge an insult and to recover the person 
of his wife, who had been carried off by an un- 
scrupulous enemy. The campaign against Ravana 
had not for its object extension of territory, but the 
punishment of an evil-doer and the righting of a 
personal wrong ; while the protracted struggle, which 
is the basis of the " Mahabharata," is purely a con- 
test for supremacy between kindred families, each 
side being backed by friends and allies from amongst 
their own race, as well as from amongst alien tribes 
(the Mlecchas). In neither poem, be it noted, does 
any question of patriotism arise; for the contest in 
which the heroes are involved are not against foreign 
invaders or national enemies. 

The India known to the compilers of the " Rama- 
yana " and "Mahabharata," — the extensive theatre 

R 



242 GREAT INDIAN EPICS 

upon which their heroes played the stirring drama of 
their lives — was evidently a land covered with vast 
tracts of dense forest, whose mysterious gloom, per- 
vaded with the aroma of incense and burnt-offerings, 
has cast a vague and mighty shadow over the hearts 
of the Hindu bards, as surely as the breezy atmo- 
sphere and the restless waves of the iEgean have 
imparted a healthy buoyancy to the Homeric rhap- 
sodists. 

The dreamy solitudes in which Valmiki and Yyasa 
love to linger have a restfulness about them which 
the European, unused to Eastern lands, can hardly 
comprehend. They have also a mystery only to be 
found in primseval forests, and they possess a dark 
background of horror, in the roar of the ferocious 
tiger, the hiss of the deadly serpent, and the grip of 
the invisible fever-fiend, enough to awaken strange 
and gloomy imaginings. 

The few who have lived, as I have done, through 
changing seasons in the dense forests of Eastern 
India, can hover in spirit through Valmiki and Vyasa's 
woodlands of the past. 

First it is summer, and the hot sunbeams come 
filtering through the leafy covering, under the shadow 
of which man and beast listlessly repose through un- 
eventful hours, while the shrill cricket chirps its 
monotonous song and the cokiVs sweet note fills the 
hot and trembling air. Then the black clouds gather 
overhead. God Indra parts them with his flashing 
bolts. Loud thunder peals in the sky, the roaring 
hurricane enters into fearful conflict with the warring 
trees, and the rain descends, not in tiny drizzles, but 
in torrents ; and its voice, as it buries itself in square 
miles of standing forest, is like the roar of many 
waters. Cascades, starting into life, leap gladly from 
the hill-side. The swollen streams, muddy and im- 
passable, swirl and rush along, carrying with them a 



CONCLUDING REMARKS 243 

burden of forest trees. A mantle of vivid green covers, 
as if by magic, the whole earth, and climbs up till it 
almost hides the little cottage in which the proprietor 
takes refuge from the incessant drip, which descends 
from the leafy covering above. 

To this succeeds a period when the steamy miasma 
rises in the green light from the rotten ground, and 
man and beast sicken in the malarious atmosphere, 
wherein the odour of decaying vegetation mingles with 
the exquisite perfume of orchids and strange flowers 
of the wilderness. In the glorious sky — in mystic 
cloudland — appear displays of light and colour, of 
subtle tints and gorgeous hues, utterly beyond de- 
scription or the artist's cunningest skill. Watch, with 
fevered vision, from the neighbourhood of one of these 
dark forests the rapidly shifting cloud-phantasms, 
arrayed in red and gold, upon the evening sky, then 
cease from marvelling at the exuberant and unbridled 
imaginings of the Indian bard ! Fix your attention 
at night upon the monstrous shapes which hover, 
skulking in the background, in the flickering firelight, 
listen to the unearthly wailing and stifled cries which 
steal through the hideous darkness, and doubt no more 
the existence and doings of gruesome Eakshasas who 
change their shapes at will ! Learn also, at the same 
time, how indispensable a god is Agni, who protects 
you through the horrors of darkest night in the forests. 

Later in the year winter smiles mildly over the 
enervated land and chills the tepid air. For hours 
after sunrise a dense fog wraps the primaeval forest in 
its embrace, but when it, ghost-like, steals silently 
away, it reveals the white smoke of the cottages curl- 
ing upwards into a blue unclouded sky. The sun 
hardly affords sufficient warmth to the labourer in 
the little patch of cultivation near the hut, and the 
moon looks cold and pallid : the streams begin to 
dwindle away ; the cascades are silent. 



244 GREAT INDIAN EPICS 

Such is the succession of seasons in a tropical 
forest-land like the India of the Epics. And, through- 
out all the seasons, the forest is enveloped in a dreamy 
air of depression and despondency, which peoples the 
solitudes with hideous Kakshasas, but leaves no place 
for sporting nymphs or dancing fairies. Life in such 
woodlands is real forest-life, not like Thoreau's de- 
lightful playing at hermit in Walden, within a couple 
of miles of Concord, and in sight of a railway. 

Thus far the forests ; but the sublime Alps of the 
Indian world, tallest and most majestic of mountains, 
have not been without influence upon the feelings of 
the Indian poets, elevating them to lofty heights of 
contemplation. And when we read what the few 
travellers who have penetrated those regions have to 
tell us of the ineffable grandeur and sublimity of the 
lone mountains, the glittering ice-fields, and the un- 
trodden snows of the interior, when we consider the 
solemn silence of those uninhabited solitudes, we can- 
not wonder that the Indian poets who had heard of 
them, and perhaps visited their rocky fastnesses, made 
of them a land of mystery and the sporting place of 
their gods and Apsaras. 

Not only from the woods of Dandhaka and the vales 
and crests of mighty Himavat did the epic poets of 
India gather inspiration ; but also from the noble and 
lovely rivers of their fair land, winding beneficently 
through many hundreds of miles of fertile country, 
from their birth-places above the clouds to the bosom 
of the all-embracing ocean, while determining in their 
course the march of migration and conquest. 

Mountains, forests and rivers, all of colossal pro- 
portions, have served to impress a grandiose if be- 
wildering character upon the great Epics of India, 
which the reader, even of this volume, can hardly fail 
to observe. 

Eeligion, being the dominant note of these volumin- 



CONCLUDING REMARKS 245 

ous poems, claims our first consideration. In this 
connection I would draw attention to the fact that 
India is very far from that stage of intellectual de- 
velopment in which literature, science, art and politics 
become secularized. In Europe secularization has 
taken place gradually under the influence of the spirit 
of rationalism, as Mr. Lecky has so admirably ex- 
plained. In India a beginning has been made in the 
secularization of knowledge. It is yet only a mere 
beginning, which owes its origin to the influence of 
English education ; but the effects being confined to 
a very small class indeed, it may still be said with 
truth that all departments of knowledge which form 
the intellectual heritage of the Indian people — even 
law, poetry and the drama — fall within the domain 
of theology. And, certainly, there is no indigenous 
science amongst the Hindus which is not subject to 
priestly influence and interpretation. 

Throughout the Epics we find the supernatural 
beings, who influence the destinies of mankind, arrayed 
in two distinctly hostile camps. On one side are the 
gods with the Gandharvas and Apsaras. On the other 
side the Asuras, including Daityas and Danavas, 
Eakshasas and Picachas. The contest lies, be it 
noted, between the lesser gods and the Asuras with 
their allies. The superior gods interpose from time 
to time in the interests of the celestials ; but be- 
hind and above the turmoil of existence the shadowy 
form of inexorable destiny reveals its overwhelming 
presence. 

The part of man in the perpetual strife carried on 
between the two orders of superhuman beings is 
neither an ignoble nor a passive one. Man is not, as 
in most other religions, either the abject and unworthy 
recipient of gracious favours from the gods, or the 
unhappy victim of the malice of devils and demons. 
His position in the universe, as conceived by the 



246 GREAT INDIAN EPICS 

authors of the Indian Epics, reflecting, no doubt, the 
prevailing ideas of their time, was a far higher one. 
Man is no nonentity in the struggle between the good 
and the evil forces of nature, but is rather a very 
important factor ; for it is his especial duty to piously 
assist and nourish the celestials by perpetual sacrifices, 
so that they on their part might have the strength to 
perform their respective duties in the government of 
the universe, and insure the repression of the forces 
of evil. Neither is man a merely useful but servile 
auxiliary of the celestials ; since he may by austerities, 
sacrifices, and ceremonies, earn and acquire rights and 
power for himself, and use his accumulated store of 
energy at his own will and for his own purposes. 

Now it is a noteworthy fact that this high ideal of 
man's dignity in the scale of beings has led in India 
to a degradation of the gods. It would seem as if 
you could not raise man without pulling down the 
deity ; as if you could not exalt the human race with- 
out abasing the celestials. Hence we see the irrever- 
ent familiarity with which the highest gods, even 
Mahadeva, is personated by the Hindus in religious 
processions, or even on the occasion of the wild 
saturnalia of the Holi festival, when a man painted 
white with a wig of long yellow hair on his head, a 
string of huge beads about his neck, and a trident 
in his hand — the Supreme Deity personified — is borne 
aloft amidst a crowd of excited men who are in- 
dulging in the grossest license of obscene speech and 
gesture. 

In regard to a life beyond the grave the writers of 
the Epics hold very decided opinions, a fact of great 
interest, if we remember that the Jews acquired their 
ideas about existence after death and of good and evil 
spirits for the first time in their Babylonian captivity, 
and passed them on as a heritage to Christianity ; the 
conceptions of our great Christian poet, Milton, being 



CONCLUDING REMARKS 247 

strongly coloured by ideas which, undoubtedly, had 
their roots in Persian Mazdeism. 

The heavens of the Hindu gods are essentially 
material and sensuous, with their palaces and gardens, 
music and dancing, their lively Gandharvas and frail 
Apsaras. Yet the goddesses play a very subordinate 
part, indeed, in India's heroic age. We find in the 
Epics no powerful Hera, no wise Pallas Athene, no 
lovely Venus, no silver-footed Thetis — bright creations 
which lend such a charm to the myths of Hellas. 
Ganga, it is true, acts a minor and appointed part 
in the great drama, and Parbati is mentioned, while 
Durga and Kali only flit across the stage. But it is 
quite evident that in the Olympus of the Aryan 
Indians the goddesses had not attained the power and 
dignity they enjoy to-day. The frequent boasts in 
the Epics against the celestials with Indra at their 
head, the way in which every chief or leader, even of 
the Venars, is said to be a match for Indra' s self, 
seem to indicate an unmistakable, if covert, hostility 
to the old gods of the Aryan invaders, which is well 
worthy of notice, as indicating a transition period in 
the religious development of the Hindus, a period 
of doubt and confusion, which is emphasized by the 
fulsome flattery addressed to anyone of whom a 
favour is desired, be he man or god. He is the best 
of men, the greatest of kings ; equal to gods, he is a 
god ; he is Indra ; he is Yama ; he is Prajapati ; he 
is superior to all the gods ; he is the ruler of the 
three worlds ; he is, in fact, anything and all things 
to the uncertain suppliant who craves his help. And 
in these perplexities we seem to have a share too ; for 
under the influence of the pantheistic notions of the. 
writers, combined with their conceptions of endless 
transmigrations and utter indifference to permanent 
shapes of any kind, individuality seems lost (as when 
we find Krishna addressed as the younger brother of 



248 GREAT INDIAN EPICS 

Indra 1 ), and a world of confused phantasmagorial 
forms seems to dance before us, till we feel dizzy con- 
templating this distracting and impermanent universe. 

But amidst the ever-shifting pageant of existence 
the Hindu seems to have arrived at and firmly grasped 
the idea of a periodic law which has given a certain 
grandeur to his speculations about both the past and 
the hereafter. 

From the orderly sequence of natural phenomena, 
as in the succession of day and night ; in the measured 
march of the seasons of the revolving year ; in the 
periodic movements of the heavenly bodies ; the Hindu 
recognized an appointed, unvarying and endless cycle 
of changes. Generalizing from these facts he con- 
cluded that this law must hold for the entire Cosmos 
as well, which would pass through its grand but 
destined cycle of changes, over and over again, in the 
aeons of eternity. He held these ideas in common with 
the Greek of old, and, like the Greek of old, he never 
rose to the conception of progress, development, evolu- 
tion. 2 

How the Hindu thinker accounted, by his doctrine 
of Karma, for the striking inequalities and apparent 
injustice inseparable from mundane existence, the 
reader has learned in sufficient detail already. As to 
the moral responsibility of man for his actions, the 
poets of the Epics had thought out the problem in its 
various aspects and despairingly left it unsolved. For 
as Sanjaya, the envoy of the Pandavas to their cousins, 
sadly says, in the true spirit of agnosticism : " In this 

1 " Mahabharata, Bhisma Parva," section lix., p. 224. 

2 " The favourite idea of classical antiquity was not the idea 
of progress, but the idea of a cycle of changes in which departure 
from the original unity and return to it, or, as we should say, 
differentiation and integration, are not united, but follow each 
other. This idea seems to be adopted even by Aristotle." — 
Caikd's " Evolution of Beligion," vol. i., p. 21. 



CONCLUDING REMARKS 249 

respect three opinions are entertained j some say that 
everything is ordained by God ; l some say that our 
acts are the results of free will ; and others say that 
our acts are the results of those of our past lives." 2 

The attribution of righteousness to the gods does 
not seem to be insisted upon ; for Krishna, as we have 
seen, is particularly prone to guileful arts in order to 
compass his objects, like the Pallas Athene of Homer, 
at whose suggestion Pandaros treacherously and un- 
justifiably wounded Menelaus with an arrow. 

In regard to the political condition of India in those 
earlier times we may, I think, gather from the Epics 
that the petty rulers who shared the land amongst 
themselves were very numerous — thousands, 3 indeed, 
if the poet's statements could be relied upon, — and we 
need not doubt that it was the perpetual endeavour of 
the more able and ambitious of these kings to get as 
many as possible of their fellow chiefs to acknowledge 
their supremacy. 

No one who studies the narratives attributed to 
Valmiki and Vyasa will fail to catch glimpses of the 
simple sagas which formed the ground-work of the 
great edifices raised by the Indian poets ; but, as I 
have observed in the Introductory Chapter, the value 
and extent of what is usually considered historical 
matter to be traced in the " Eamayana " and " Maha- 
bharata " is so small and so doubtful that it fails to 
command either my interest or my confidence. It 
may be due to perversity of character, or to want of 
historical acumen on my part ; but when I am ex- 
pected to believe that the progress of the Bhojas and 
their allies eastward may be traced in the legend of 

1 What god can Sanjaya refer to? Surely it must be fate, 
inexorable destiny, of which he is thinking. 

2 " Mahabharata, Udyoga Parva," section clix. 

3 " Mahabharata, Bhisma Parva," section lix., p. 217, and 
section lxxxii., p. 295. 



250 GREAT INDIAN EPICS 

Kama, given in the " Mababharata," witb which the 
reader of the foregoing pages is familiar, I do not feel 
inclined to acquiesce. And when I am gravely assured 
that the romantic story of Satyavati, the fisherman's 
daughter, her marriage with Santanu and her previous 
amour with the father of Vyasa, although absurd in 
Vyasa's own poem, becomes intelligible, — if we will 
only put the individual fisherman out of court alto- 
gether, forget what the poet tells us about Satyavati, 
and imagine that the young lady in question was a 
personage of some importance in the family of the 
king of the fishing people, — I feel such efforts towards 
constructive history are somewhat beyond my abilities. 1 

While writers of one class strain after the hidden 
historical elements in the "Kamayana" and "Maha- 
bharata," those of another class (represented by both 
Europeans and Indians), ingeniously discover in these 
narratives merely solar myths or moral allegories. It 
were needless to enlarge upon this topic here, and I 
have already given instances of such interpretations 
in the Note appended to the " Eamayana " (p. 91) and 
in the summary of the " Bhagavatgita " (p. 217). I 
would merely add that if it be the true function of 
history to reveal to us living pictures of bygone times, 
to disclose to us the social life of earlier days, and to 
make us acquainted with the thoughts, ideals and 
aspirations of former generations, then the Indian 
Epics are a solid contribution to historical literature 
even if they do not happen to chronicle actual events. 

The heroes of the Epics, being mostly demi-gods 
with a long previous history, an appointed destiny, 
and subject, like mortal men, to pass through many 

1 However, the reader who considers such historical infer- 
ences sufficiently interesting and important, may consult the 
articles entitled " Early History of Northern India," by F. W. 
Hewitt, in the "Journal of the Eoyal Asiatic Society," 1888-89- 
90. 



CONCLUDING REMARKS 251 

future existences in other forms, do not, I confess, 
engage my sympathies very much. Even human 
beings upon this epic stage lose their distinctive 
character and cease to interest us if we regard them 
merely as souls masquerading, as it were, for a certain 
time in particular forms assumed for the occasion, 
different from the many they have worn in former 
states, and unlike those which they will wear in 
future lives. Indeed the doctrine of metempsychosis, 
with its fluxional succession of beings, human and 
divine, undermines the conceptions of definite and 
permanent individuality so thoroughly that I do not 
wonder that sober human history, with its limited 
stage and narrow chronology, has had but little charm 
for the Hindus. 

More remarkable than the heroes of Kurukshetra, 
however, are the Eishis and Hermits, who stand out 
upon the canvas of the Epic poets with startling dis- 
tinctness. These sages, with their austerities, their 
superhuman powers, their irascibility and their terrible 
curses, are the Hindu representatives of the magicians 
and sorcerers of other countries, and form a remark- 
able feature in the life of even modern India. As a 
rule the saints of Christendom are of another type, 
yet, strange to say, there are a few of them, St. Kenan 
for example, to whom have been attributed char- 
acteristics not unlike those of the Indian Eishis. 1 
Elsewhere a large share, perhaps the greater share, of 
magical power has been credited to the fair sex ; but 
the Hindu has, characteristically, made no such con- 
cession to women, who never at any time in India 
were granted the free and honoured position accorded 
them amongst the Germans of Tacitus or the Norse- 
men of the Eddas, and never enjoyed even the 
restricted liberty which Greek women were privileged 

1 Kenan's " Recollections of my Youth," pp. 72-75. 



252 GREAT INDIAN EPICS 

to exercise. Nevertheless, there is, undoubtedly, a 
substratum of chivalrous feeling towards the weaker 
sex manifested throughout the Epics, often in a dis- 
tinct and pronounced manner. 

As to the social life of the early heroic age, of which 
we get so many interesting glimpses in the Epics, it is 
certain that it was extremely simple and rude ; as, for 
instance, to cite a single example, the life of the 
Pandavas in their primitive " house of lac," where 
their mother ministered to them without the assist- 
ance of any servants at all, although, be it remem- 
bered, the young princes were supposed to be enjoying 
themselves away from home on a sort of holiday 
excursion. There is, however, ample evidence to show 
that by the time the poems were actually compiled or, 
at any rate, cast into their present forms, a complicated 
society had been evolved, and a life of luxurious ease 
and refinement was not unknown. Throughout the 
period embraced in the Epics the caste system was 
well established, animal food commonly used, 1 and 
spirituous drinks not prohibited. Polygamy was 
common, and polyandry a recognized institution, 
while the practice known as Niyoga — of raising up 
offspring to deceased relatives or childless men — was, 
undoubtedly, fully established. 

Now caste, with its baleful influences, still dominates 
Hindu life ; polygamy continues to be common in some 
parts of India ; polyandry is still practised, here and 
there, in backward places ; and Niyoga, which has 
never ceased to be orthodox doctrine, has, in these 
days, had special prominence given to it by Swami 
Dayanand, and the sect recently founded by him. The 
practice in question — which is known in a modified 
form as levirate 2 amongst the Jews — has been estab- 

1 "All creatures support life by living upon one another." — 
" Mahabharata, Bhisma Parva," p. 16. 

2 Deut. xxv. 5-10, and Gen. xxxviii. 



CONCLUDING REMARKS 253 

lished in India since time immemorial, and we have 
had important instances of it in the foregoing pages. 

What Manu, the great Indian lawgiver, says on the 
subject of Niyoga is as follows: "On failure of issue 
by the husband, if he be of the servile class, the 
desired offspring may be procreated, either by his 
brother or some other sapinda, on the wife, who has 
been duly authorized. Sprinkled with clarified butter, 
silent, in the night, let the kinsman thus appointed 
beget one son, but a second by no means, on the widow 
or childless wife. By men of twice-born classes no 
widow or childless wife must be authorized to conceive 
by any other man than her lord." x 

* Swami Dayanand, however, does not limit the 
practice of Niyoga to the inferior castes, nor to the 
cases referred to by Manu. The modern reformer goes 
much further, teaching a doctrine, said to be founded 
on the Vedas, which allows a latitude in respect to the 
relations between the sexes that, to say the least, is 
extremely startling in this nineteenth century. 2 I am 
bound to add that I have been very positively assured 
that Swami Dayanand 's precepts in respect to Niyoga 
are not actually practised by his followers, but their 
dangerous tendency is, I presume, undeniable. 

From the earliest ages known to the writers of the 
" Eamayana " and " Mahabharata" cremation of the 
dead has been the practice in India. Hence in Indian 
archaeology we are deprived of those sources of informa- 
tion — graves, tumuli, cromlechs and sepulchres — which 
elsewhere, as in Egypt, have furnished such a wealth 
of facts regarding the earlier races of mankind. 

The sacred character of the Brahmans receives abund- 

1 Manu, ix. 59, 60 and 64. 

2 On the subject of Niyoga the reader may consult Sir Henry 
Maine's " Dissertation on Early Law and Custom," pp. 100 and 
107, and " A Treatise on Hindu Law and Usage," by John D. 
Mayne, chapter iv. 



254 GREAT INDIAN EPICS 

ant recognition in the Epics ; and it is noteworthy 
that, except in the relinquishment of animal food and 
vinous drinks by a great majority of the Hindus, little 
change has taken place in the social habits of the 
people since the heroic age depicted in the Epics. "We 
need not doubt, however, that the abstention from 
animal food and, with it, from wine and spirits of all 
kinds has, in the course of many generations, pro- 
foundly modified the national character ; and has, 
perhaps, more than anything else, gradually converted 
the turbulent, aggressive Aryan into the mild and 
contemplative Hindu. 1 

A high degree of culture had doubtless been attained 
by the Indians before the Epics were cast into their 
present forms. The industrial arts would seem to 
have flourished, and we have seen how highly the 
poets appreciated and enjoyed the beauty of the wood- 
lands, and how much they were impressed with the 
scenery of their grand mountains. This in itself is a 
remarkable fact, as the charms of landscape beauty 
do not seem to have been realized in the West until a 
somewhat later time. 

The ideal of human (particularly female) beauty 
which possessed the minds of the Hindu bards has 
been indicated by several allusions and quotations in 
the preceding chapters. It is certainly not that 
embodied in the Yenus of Melos or the Apollo Belve- 
dere ; but every age and country has its own ideals. 

Throughout the foregoing brief narrative there has 
been ample evidence of the height to which the specu- 

1 The abandonment of animal food and ardent spirits was prob- 
ably due to Buddhistic influence, though Buddha himself, as 
is well known, ate pork. I have been assured by well-informed 
Indian gentlemen that within the last few years there has been 
a marked tendency amongst many sections of the people to take 
to a flesh diet and alcoholic stimulants — in fact to revert to the 
old Aryan habits in these respects. 



CONCLUDING REMARKS 255 

lative imagination of the Hindus had carried thern in 
endeavouring to read the riddle of human destiny, and 
notably so in the subtle pantheism of the " Bhagavat- 
gita," a work which, even if the date assigned to it by 
European scholars be accepted, and with that its 
authors' supposed acquaintance with Christian ideas, 
must still excite our admiration by its largeness of 
conception and liberality of sentiments — expressed 
many centuries before Luther nailed his famous 
ninety-five theses upon the door of the church at 
Wittenberg. 

The imaginative faculty never fails the bards of the 
Indian Epics, who too often indulge in a very delirium 
of exaggeration. Yet, notwithstanding their supreme 
contempt for probabilities or consistency, and their 
lofty scorn of numerical limitations, it cannot be denied 
that these Hindu poets, with their lawless imagina- 
tions, take us completely captive and carry us along 
with them, surprised and delighted, through the 
wonderful scenes of their creation ; while one cannot 
but feel in their company that the intellectual atmo- 
sphere which surrounds them is a stronger one and 
more spiritual than that which was breathed by the 
Greeks of Homer or the Teutons of the Eddas. 

On the whole, it may be said that the Indian Epics 
as they have reached us, reveal to the careful student 
an ancient free and vigorous primitive social life and 
turbulent times, overlaid by a later and less healthy, 
if more refined civilization, which was permeated with 
ecclesiasticism ; and that they exhibit a strange 
mixture of what Mr. Herbert Spencer would call the 
" ethics of enmity " and the " ethics of amity." The 
later stage of Indian history — the age of Brahmanism 
succeeding the heroic age and continuing to the present 
day — may, I think, be well compared with the Middle 
Ages in Europe, when priestly influence was pre- 
dominant and national life at a low ebb. Europe, 



256 GREAT INDIAN EPICS 

under the influence of the spirit of industrialism and 
modern science, has emancipated itself from the 
numbing influences of the Dark Ages. When will 
India do the same? For how many more centuries is 
she destined to wrangle over unprofitable theological 
questions, as did the Byzantine Greeks while the 
conqueror was thundering at their gates ? 

My pleasant undertaking has occupied more time 
than I had anticipated when I took it in hand; but 
I leave it now with a profound appreciation of the 
capabilities of a people who have produced such works 
as the " Kamayana " and " Mahabharata." 

In every age — even in an industrial age of busy 
scientific progress and mechanical triumphs like our 
own — the human mind turns with fond interest to 
any picture which shows how men in the fore-time 
lived and thought, and it listens eagerly to any song 
which echoes through the vanished years the fervent 
hopes and lofty aspirations of buried generations. 
Therefore, I trust that my little work, though it be but 
a sketch of a great picture and the echo of a grand 
old song, may find favour with the public, and help to 
open up to English readers a strange but interesting 
world of Eastern ideas and conceptions. Above all, 
however, I hope that my pages represent — as I believe 
they do — both fairly and adequately the great Epics 
of India. 



CHISWICK PRESS :— CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO. 
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20 



An Alphabetical List of Books 



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from A. D. 732 to A. D. 1201. 
Translated by H. T. Riley, M.A. 
2 vols. 5 j. each. 

ROGER OF WENDOVER'S 
Flowers of Hi3tory, comprising 
the History of England from the 
Descent of the Saxons to a.d. 
1235 , formerly ascribed to Matthew 
Paris. Translated by J. A. Giles, 
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Contained in Bo Jin's Libraries. 



21 



ROME in the NINETEENTH 
CENTURY. Containing a com- 
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See Burn and Dyer. 

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Life of Lorenzo de' Medici, 

called ' the Magnificent.' With 
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RUSSIA. History of, from the 
earliest Period, compiled from 
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2 vols. 3s. 6d. each. 

SALLUST, FLORUS, and VEL- 
LEIUS PATERCULUS. 
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5* 

SCHILLER'S Works. Translated 
by various hands. 7 vols. 3s. 6d. 



I. — History of the Thirty Years' 
War. 

II. — History of the Revolt in the 
Netherlands, the Trials of 
Counts Egmont and Horn, 
the Siege of Antwerp, and 
the Disturbances in France 
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III.— Don Carlos, Mary Stuart, 
Maid of Orleans, Bride of 
Messina, together with the 
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These Dramas are all 
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IV. — Robbers ( with Schiller's 
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The Dramas in this 
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SCHLEGEL (A. W ) Lectures 
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22 



An Alphabetical List of Books 



SCHOPENHAUER on the Four- 
fold Root of the Princirle of 
Sufficient Reason, an 1 On the 
Will in Nature. Translated by 
Madame Hillebrand. 5_y. 

Essays. Selected and Trans- 
lated. With a Biographical Intro- 
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SCHOUW'S Earth, Plants, and 
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SCHUMANN (Robert). His Life 
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EarlyLetters. Originally pub- 
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SENECA on Benefits. Newly 
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3-r. 6d. 

Minor Essays and On Clem- 
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MA. 5*. 

SHAKESPEARE'S Dramatic 
Art. The History and Character 
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SIX OLD ENGLISH CHRON- 
ICLES: viz., Asser's Life of 
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Ethelwerd, Gildas, Nennius, 
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Theory of Moral Sentiments ; 

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SMITH'S ( Pye ) Geology and 
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SMOLLETT'S Adventures of 
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Adventures of Peregrine 

Pickle, in which are included the 
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Contained in Bohris Libraries. 



23 



SMOLLETT'S The Expedition 
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24 



An Alphabetical List of Books 



SUETONIUS' Lives of the Twelve 
Csesars and Lives of the Gram- 
marians. The translation of 
Thomson, revised by T. Forester. 

SULLY. Memoirs of the Duke 
of, Prime Minister to Henry 
the Great. Translated from the 
French. With 4 Portraits. 4 vols. 
3s. 6rf. each. 

SWIFT'S Prose Works. Edited 
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graphical Introduction by the Right 
Hon. W. E. H. Lecky, M.P. 
With Portraits and Facsimiles. 
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[ Vols. I. -IV. & VIII. ready. 
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III. & IV. — Writings on Religion and 
the Church. Edited by 
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V. — Historical and Political 
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VIII. -Gulliver's Travels. Edited 
by G. R. Dennis. With 
Portrait and Maps. 
The order and contents of 
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probably be as follows : — 
VI. &VIL— Historical and Political 
Tracts (Irish). 
IX. — Contributions to the ' Ex- 
aminer,' 'Tatler,' 'Spec- 
tator,' &c. 
X. — Historical Writings. 
XI. — Literary Essays and Biblio- 
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STOWE (Mrs. H.B.) Uncle Tom's 
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page Illustrations. 3s. 6d. 

TACITUS. The Works of. Liter- 
ally translated. 2 vols. $s. each. 

TALES OF THE GENII; or, the 
Delightful Lessons of Horam, the 
Son of Asmar. Translated from 
the Persian by Sir Charles Morell. 
Numerous Woodcuts and 12 Steel 
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TASSO'S Jerusalem Delivered. 
Translated into English Spenserian 
Verse by J. H. Wiffen. With 8 
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TAYLOR'S (Bishop Jeremy) 
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TEN BRINK.— See Brink. 

TERENCE and PH^DRUS. 
Literally translated byH. T. Riley, 
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METRICALVERSION OF PHjEDRUS. 

THEOCRITUS, BION, MOS- 
CHUS, and TYRT^US. Liter- 
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pended the Metrical Versions of 
Chapman. 55. 

THEODORET and EVAGRIUS. 

Histories of the Church from A.d. 
332 to a.d. 427 ; and from a.d. 
431 to a.d. 544. Translated from 
the Greek. 5^. 

THIERRY'S History of the 
Conquest of England by the 
Normans; its Causes, and its 
Consequences in England, Scot- 
land, Ireland, and the Continent. 
Translated by William Hazlitt. 
2 vols. 3*. 6d. each. 



Contained in Bonn's Libraries. 



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THUCYDIDES. The Pelopon- 
nesian War. Literally translated 
by the Rev. H. Dale. 2 vols. 
y. 6d. each. 

An Analysis and Summary 

of. With Chronological Table of 
Events, &c. By J. T. Wheeler. 

THTJDICHUM (J. L. W.) A Trea- 
tise on Wines: their Origin, 
Nature, and Varieties. With Prac- 
tical Directions for Viticulture and 
Vinification. By J. L. W. Thudi- 
chum, M.D., F.R.C.P. (Lond.). 
Illustrated. 5*. 

TIRE'S (Dr. A.) Cotton Manufac- 
ture of Great Britain, systemati- 
cally investigated. Revised Edit, 
by P. L. Simmonds. With 150 
original Illustrations. 2 vols. 5*. 
each. 

Philosophy of Manufactures. 

Revised Edition, by P. L. Sim- 
monds. With numerous Figures. 
Double volume, "js. 6d. 

VASARI'S Lives of the most 
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VIRGIL. A Literal Prose Trans- 
lation by A. Hamilton Bryce, 
LL.D., F.R.S.E. With Portrait. 
3*. 6d. 

VOLTAIRE'S Tales. Translated 
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taining Bebouc, Memnon, Can- 
dide, L'Ingenu, and other Tales. 
3* 6d. 

WALTON'S Complete Angler, 
or the Contemplative Man's Re- 
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Charles Cotton. Edited by Ed- 
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Tackle, &c, by Henry G. Bohn. 
With Portrait and 203 Engravings 
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Steel. 5*. 

Lives of Donne, Hooker, &c. 

New Edition revised by A. H. 
Bullen, with a Memoir of Izaak 
Walton by Wm. Dowling. With 
numerous Illustrations. 5^. 

WELLINGTON, Life of. By ' An 
Old Soldier.' From the materials 
of Maxwell. With Index and 18 
Steel Engravings. 5^. 

Victories of. See Maxwell. 

WERNER'S Templars in 
Cyprus. Translated by E. A. M. 
Lewis. 3.y. 6d. 

WESTROPP (H. M.) A Hand- 
book of Archaeology, Egyptian, 
Greek, Etruscan, Roman. By 
H. M. Westropp. 2nd Edition, 
revised. With very numerous 
Illustrations. 5*. 

WHITE'S Natural History of 
Selborne, with Observations on 
various Parts of Nature, and the 
Naturalists' Calendar. With Notes 
by Sir William Jardine. Edited 
by Edward Jesse. With 40 Por- 
traits and coloured Plates. 55. 

WHEATLEY'S A Rational Illus- 
tration of the Book of Common 
Prayer. 3.5-. 6d. 

WHEELER'S Noted Names of 
Fiction, Dictionary of. Includ- 
ing also Familiar Pseudonyms, 
Surnames bestowed on Eminent 
Men, and Analogous Popular Ap- 
pellations often referred to in 
Literature and Conversation. By 
W. A. Wheeler, M.A. 5*. 

WIESELER'S Chronological 
Synopsis of the Four Gospels. 
Translated by the Rev. Canon 
Venables. 3*. 6d. 



26 Alphabetical List of Books in Bokn*s Libraries. 



WILLIAM of MALMESBURY'S 
Chronicle of the Kings of Eng- 
land, from the Earliest Period 
to the Reign of King Stephen. 
Translated by the Rev. J. Sharpe. 
Edited by J. A. Giles, D.C.L. $jr. 

XENOPHON'S Works. Trans- 
lated by the Rev. J. S. Watson, 
M.A., and the Rev. H. Dale. In 
3 vols. $s. each. 

YOUNG (Arthur). Travels in 
France during the years 1787, 
1788. and 1789. Edited by 
M. Betham Edwards, y. 6d. 



YOUNG (Arthur). Tour in Ire- 
land, with General Observations 
on the state of the country during 
the years 1776-79. Edited by 
A. W. Hutton. With Complete 
Bibliography by J. P. Ander- 
son, and Map. 2 vols. p. 6d. 
each. 

YULE-TIDE STORIES. A Col- 
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German Popular Tales and Tra- 
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and German. Edited by B.Thorpe. 
5*. 



I 27 ) 

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29 



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Ladies' Riding. By W.A.Kerr, V.C. 
Boxing. By B. G. Allanson-Winn. 

With Prefatory Note by Bat Mullins. 
Cycling. By H. H. Griffin, L.A.C., 
N.C.U., O.T.C. With a Chapter for 
Ladies, by Miss Agnes Wood. 



Fencing. By H.A. ColmoreDunn. 

Wrestling. By Walter Arm- 
strong ('Cross-buttocker'). 

Broadsword and Singlestick. 
By R. G-. Allanson-Winn and C. Phil- 

LIPPS-WOLLEY. 

Gymnastics. By A. F. Jenkin. 

Double vol. 2s. 

Gymnastic Competition and Dis- 
play Exercises. Compiled by 
F. Graf. 

Indian Clubs. By G. T. B. Cob- 
bett and A. F. Jenkin. 

Dumb-bells. By F. Graf. 

Football — Rugby Game. By 
Harry Vassall. 

Football — Association Game. By 

C. W. Alcock. Revised Edition. 
Hockey. By F. S. Creswell. 

(In Paper Cover, 6d.) 
Skating. By Douglas Adams. 

With a Chapter for Ladies, by Miss L. 

Cheetham, and a Chapter on Speed 

Skating, by a Fen Skater. Dbl. vol. 2s. 
Baseball. By Newton Crane. 
Rounders, Fieldball, Bowls, 
Quoits, Curling, Skittles, &c. 

By J. M. Walker and C. C. Mott. 
Dancing. By Edward Scott. 

Double vol. 2s. 



THE CLUB SERIES OF CARD AND TABLE GAMES. 

No well-regulated club or country house should be without this useful series of books. 
Small 8vo. cloth, Illustrated. Price Is. each. Globe. 

Dominoes and Solitaire. 



Whist. By Dr. Wm. Pole, F.R.S. 
Solo Whist. By Bobert F. Green. 
Bridge. By Bobert F. Green. 

[In the press. 
Billiards. By Major-Gen. A. W. 

Dratson, F.R.A.S. With a Preface 

by W. J. Peall. 
Chess. By Robert F. Green. 
The Two- Move Chess Problem. 

By B. Gk Laws. 
Chess Openings. By I. Gunsbebg. 
Draughts and Backgammon 

«y ' Berkeley.' 
Reversi and Go Bang. 

Bv ' Berkeley * 



By ' Berkeley.' 
Bezique and Cribbage. 
, By * Berkeley.* 
Ecarte and Euchre. 

By * Berkeley.' 
Piquet and Rubicon Piquet 

By ' Berkeley.' 
Skat. By Louis Diehl. 

\* A Skat Scoring-book. Is. 
Round Games, including Poker, 

Napoleon, Loo, Vingt-et-un, &c. By 

Baxter Wray. 
Parlour and Playground Games. 

By Mrs. Laurence Gomme. 



BELL'S CATHEDRAL SERIES. 

SHustrateD rtftonograpbs in IfoanDg Sfse. 

EDITED BY 

GLEESON WHITE and E. F. STRANGE. 

In specially designed cloth cover, crown Zvo. is. 6d. each. 



Now Ready. 

CANTERBURY. By Hartley Withers. 3rd Edition, revised. 37 Illustrations. 

CARLISLE. By C. K. Eley. 30 Illustrations. 

CHESTER. By Charles Hiatt. 2nd Edition, revised. 35 Illustrations. 

DURHAM. By J. E. Bygate, A.R.C.A. 44 Illustrations. 

EXETER. By Percy Addleshaw, B.A. 2nd Edition, revised. 35 Illustrations 

GLOUCESTER. By H. J. L. J. Masse, M.A. 49 Illustrations. 

HEREFORD. By A. Hugh Fisher, A.R.E. 40 Illustrations. 

LICHFIELD. By A. B. Clifton. 42 Illustrations. 

LINCOLN. By A. F. Kendrick, B,A. 2nd Edition, revised. 46 Illustrations. 

NORWICH. By C. H. B. Quennell. 38 Illustrations. 

OXFORD. By Rev. Percy Dearmer, M.A. 2nd Edition, revised. 34 Illus- 
trations. 

PETERBOROUGH. By Rev. W. D. Sweeting. 2nd Edition, revised. 
51 Illustrations. 

ROCHESTER. By G. H. Palmer, B.A. 2nd Edition, revised. 38 Illustrations. 

ST. PAUL'S. By Rev. Arthur Dimock, M.A. 39 Illustrations. 

SALISBURY. By Gleeson White. 2nd Edition, revised. 50 Illustrations. 

SOUTHWELL. By Rev. Arthur Dimock, M.A. 37 Illustrations. 

WELLS. By Rev. Percy Dearmer, M.A. 43 Illustrations. 

WINCHESTER. By P. W. Sergeant. 2nd Edition, revised. 50 Illustration 

YORK. By A. Clutton- Brock, M.A. 41 Illustrations. 

Preparing. 



ST. ALBANS By Rev. W. D. Sweeting. 

CHICHESTER. By H. C. Corlette, 
A.R.I.B.A. 

ST. ASAPH and BANGOR. By P. B. 
Ironside Bax. 

GLASGOW. By P. Macgregor Chal- 
mers, LA., F.S.A.(Scot.). 



RIPON. By Cecil Hallett, B.A. 
ST. DAVID'S. By Philip Robson, 

A.R.I.B.A. 
ELY. By Rev. W. D. Sweeting, M.A. 
WORCESTER. By E. F. Strange. 
BRISTOL. By H. J. L. J. Masse, M.A. 

Uniform with above Series. Now ready. 

ST. MARTIN'S CHURCH, CANTERBURY. By the Rev. Canon Routledge, 

M.A., F.S.A. 
BEVERLEY MINSTER. By Charles Hiatt. 
WIMBORNE MINSTER and CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY. By the Rev. T. 

Perkins, M.A. 
TEWKESBURY ABBEY AND DEERHURST PRIORY. ByH. J. L. J. Masse, M.A. 
WESTMINSTER ABBEY. By Charles Hiatt. [Preparing. 



1 The volumes are handy in size, moderate in price, well illustrated, and written in a 
scholarly spirit, The history of cathedral and city is intelligently set forth and accompanied 
by a descriptive survey of the building in all its detail. The illustrations are copious and well 
selected, and the series bids fair to become an indispensable companion to the cathedral 
tourist in England.' — Timee. 

' We have so frequently in these columns urged the want of cheap, well-illustrated and 
well-written handbooks to our cathedrals, to take the place of the out-of-date publications of 
local booksellers, that we are glad to hear that they have been taken in hand by Messrs. 
George Bell & Sons.' — St. James's Gazette. 



32 ) 

WEBSTER'S 

INTERNATIONAL 

DICTIONARY 

OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, 
2118 Pages. 3500 Illustrations. 



PRICES: 

Cloth, i/. 1 1 s. 6d.; half calf, 2/. 2s.\ half russia, 2/. $s.; full calf, 
2.1. 8s.; full russia, 2/. 12s.; half morocco, with Patent Marginal Index, 
2/. 8*. ; full calf, with Marginal Index, 2/. 12s. Also bound in 2 vols., 
cloth, 1/. 14-r. ; half calf, 2/. 12*. ; half russia, 2/. i8j. ; full calf, 3/. 3*. ; 
full russia, 3/. 15^. 

The Appendices comprise a Pronouncing Gazetteer of the World, 
Vocabularies of Scripture, Greek, Latin, and English Proper Names, 
a Dictionary of the Noted Names of Fiction, a Brief History of the 
English Language, a Dictionary of Foreign Quotations, Words, Phrases, 
Proverbs, &c, a Biographical Dictionary with 10,000 names, &c, &c. 



1 We believe that, all things considered, this will be found to be the best 
existing English dictionary in one volume. We do not know of any work 
similar in size and price which can approach it in completeness of a vocabu- 
lary, variety of information, and general usefulness.' — Guardian. 

' The most comprehensive and the most useful of its kind.' 

National Observer, 

'We recommend the New Webster to every man of business, every 
father of a family, every teacher, and almost every student — to everybody, 
in fact, who is likely to be posed at an unfamiliar at half-understood word or 
phrase.' -St. James's Gazette. 

Prospectuses, with Specimen Pages, on Application. 

THE ONLY AUTHORISED AND COMPLETE EDITION. 



LONDON : GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK STREET, 
COVENT GARDEN. 

S. & S. 4.00. 



APR 23 1904 



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